From WSJopinion: The U.S. is unprepared to deter China’s growing nuclear threat, writes pj_geller
The Pentagon revealed this month that China now has more intercontinental ballistic missile launchers than the U.S. This is the latest evidence that China is well on its way to nuclear parity with—if not superiority over—the U.S.
The U.S. is unprepared to deter China’s growing nuclear threat. The current U.S. structure was designed more than a decade ago and is based primarily on the need to deter Russia. Back then, most believed that China would maintain only a couple of hundred nuclear weapons. The Pentagon now projects Beijing will have at least 1,000 weapons by the end of the decade.
To increase its arsenal’s size, the Pentagon should consider boosting procurement plans for nuclear modernization programs already under way, including for the Sentinel missile, Columbia-class submarine and B-21 bomber. It also should take steps to improve America’s ability to add more warheads to existing missiles as a viable option to boost the size of the arsenal in the near term. Right now the process to load warheads onto ICBMs, for example, can take months if not years.
Last year Congress approved $45 million in R&D funding for the program, but Congress should provide at least $400 million this year with the aim of deploying this weapon by the end of the decade.
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