Latest news with #GlobalStrikeCommand
Yahoo
2 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
First Glimpse Of Air Force's New Stealth Nuclear Cruise Missile
After years of development, we have gotten our first look at what the USAF's new AGM-181A Long-Range Standoff (LRSO) nuclear-armed cruise missile could actually look like. The program is a top priority for the Air Force and its Global Strike Command. LRSO is set to replace America's only nuclear-armed cruise missile in operation today, the AGM-86B Air Launched Cruise Missile (ALCM), which has served since the twilight of the Cold War. The AGM-86B missile has even remained in service long after the more advanced and stealthy AGM-129 Advanced Cruise Missile (ACM) was retired after just over two decades of service (1990-2012). You can read all about the AGM-129 and the AGM-86B in this past feature. Most notably from this first unclassified render, the LRSO features an inverted tail very similar to the conventionally-armed AGM-158 JASSM stealthy air-launched cruise missile. The AGM-129 featured a similar arrangement, although with a differently shaped vertical tail. The missile looks like it has a trapezoidal fuselage cross-section design with a wedge-like nose. The wing design is also similar to JASSM. We see no air inlet in the concept rendering, which could be for security reasons, considering the inlet design is often a closely guarded feature on stealthy flying machines, or it could be located on the top of the missile. We also can't say with any certainty how accurate this official rendering is of the actual design, but it is a given that some features will be omitted or even misleading for an initial public release. The airborne leg is already the most flexible of America's nuclear triad. Bombers can be positioned anywhere around the globe, both in the air and forward deployed on the ground. They can also be rapidly recalled as needed, signalling de-escalation. This is a critical tool for strategic messaging that could potentially avert a nuclear holocaust. The nuclear-armed cruise missile component of this capability allows for standoff attacks that present a real challenge for traditional air defenses and cannot be readily identified by ballistic missile-focused early warning architectures. So, as a result, in this new age of so-called 'great power competition,' with the AGM-129 already retired from service and the AGM-86B growing very old and becoming questionably survivable, a new, more capable and resilient long-range nuclear-tipped cruise missile was deemed necessary. This became the AGM-181A LRSO. This new weapon system, built by Raytheon, will be carried by both the new B-21 Raider and the venerable B-52 Stratofortress. The B-52 is also set to be deeply upgraded, overall, as you can learn more about here. Otherwise, little is known about the LRSO's capabilities as the program remains highly classified in many respects. Still, one can expect a subsonic missile with greater range than its predecessors that features a very tough-to-detect and track airframe and engine combination. Strict emissions control and the ability to navigate in any environment, including one where access to GPS is degraded or denied, and dense electronic warfare is the norm, will be critical. Autonomously reacting to threats in its area to better ensure its best path to its target will also likely be a feature. Combined, these elements will offer the missile and its launch platform more employment options and far greater survivability, especially as very long-range integrated air defenses mature at a rapid pace. LRSO has been in secretive flight testing for years now, and it will feature the updated W80-4 thermonuclear warhead. The weapon is also part of the larger Long Range Strike family of systems, which includes the B-21 as its centerpiece, as well as new command and control, space-based support assets, weapons, communications, and other technologies, possibly including classified fixed-wing companion aircraft. These capabilities will work to become something greater than the sum of their parts in order to achieve success in a future combat environment that will be far more threatening than any in the past. When it comes to the price tag, as we noted in a previous report from 2023: 'The Pentagon acquisition report does peg the estimated LRSO program acquisition cost, as of December 2022 and based on the expected purchase of 1,020 missiles in total, at just over $16 billion. Sustaining the missiles over a 30-year lifespan is expected to cost another $7 billion or so.' More current estimates put the cost of LRSO at around $14M each. Previous plans to make a conventionally-armed variant of the LRSO seem to have been dropped, with further extrapolations of the popular AGM-158 JASSM series of air-launched stealthy cruise missiles filling that role. If this first rendering is any indication, LRSO has moved well forward in its development, and we are likely to hear more about it and finally see it in full in the not-too-distant future. The missile has been expected to begin entering operational service toward the end of the decade. Then again, few programs are safe just yet as this new administration looks to manifest its priorities in its first defense budget, which we should be seeing in full any time now. Contact the author: Tyler@
Asia Times
4 days ago
- Politics
- Asia Times
US plans nuclear buildup to check and deter China, Russia
With the New START treaty set to expire, the US Air Force is gearing up to surge warhead deployments to outmatch and deter nuclear rivals China and Russia. This month, Air & Space Forces Magazine reported that the US Air Force is prepared to expand its nuclear arsenal upon the expiration of the New START Treaty in February 2026, according to General Thomas Bussiere, head of US Air Force Global Strike Command. Speaking at an Atlantic Council forum, Bussiere said that, if directed, the service could increase warhead deployments across its Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) and bomber fleet. The nuclear arms control treaty, which has been in effect since 2011 and has limited the number of nuclear launchers in the US and Russia, will lapse following Russia's 2023 decision not to extend it. Efforts to modernize US deterrence capabilities, including the Sentinel ICBM, have faced scrutiny due to soaring costs and delays. Lawmakers pressed US Air Force officials to demonstrate urgency in correcting the troubled program, which is projected to cost nearly US$141 billion and fall years behind schedule. Simultaneously, the US Department of Defense (DOD) is assessing the viability of expanding the B-21 Raider fleet beyond the planned 100 aircraft to counter growing nuclear threats from China and North Korea. House Armed Services Committee members remain concerned about funding priorities and nuclear force readiness, while Secretary Troy Meink emphasized that strategic deterrence remains paramount for national defense. Bussiere hinted that future adversarial developments might necessitate a more robust nuclear force posture beyond existing plans. Al Mauroni mentions in a December 2023 War on the Rocks article that the US could increase its readily deployed nuclear warheads beyond New START Treaty limits by utilizing warheads from the nuclear stockpile's active hedge, which are those that are not operationally deployed. Mauroni points out that this effectively means the US could 'upload' additional nuclear warheads onto existing missiles and bombers without building new weapons. Hans Kristensen and other writers mention in a January 2025 article for the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists that while the US currently deploys 400 Minuteman III ICBMs, each armed with one warhead, the missiles can carry two or three warheads each. Kristensen and others state that the Trident II D5 submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBM) can carry eight warheads each, although they typically carry an average of four to five. In terms of bombers, a March 2025 US Congressional Research Service (CRS) report states that the US Air Force may require at least 200 stealth bombers to meet operational demands, particularly given the high tempo of Bomber Task Force missions and the reliance on Cold War-era platforms still in frontline use. Putting a number on the potential increase of US warheads, Keith Payne and Mark Schneider mention in an article this month for the National Institute of Public Policy that without New START limitations, the US Trident SLBM force could increase from an estimated 960 to 1,626 deployed warheads, while the Minuteman III ICBM force could increase from an estimated 400 to 1,000 deployed warheads, for a deployed missile force of 2,626 warheads. For bombers, Payne and Schneider estimate that the US could increase its stockpile of 528 air-launched cruise missiles (ALCM) to 716 to 784 warheads. However, the US nuclear triad is in dire need of modernization. Heather Williams and Lachlan MacKenzie mention in an April 2025 article for the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) that the US Air Force is currently looking to extend the lifespan of its Minuteman III ICBMs, which are decades past retirement, while its Sentinel replacement is hounded by budget overruns and delays. Regarding the US's undersea nuclear deterrent, a March 2025 US CRS report notes that the US operates 14 Ohio-class SSBNs, which are approaching the end of their service lives. The report states that the SSBNs were initially designed for a 30-year service life but were later recertified for an additional 12 years. The report notes that the Ohio SSBNs will reach the end of their operational lives from 2027 to 2040. While the report states that the US is building 12 Columbia-class SSBNs to replace the Ohio-class fleet, the lead unit is facing a 12- to 16-month delay, which could impact the timely replacement of the Ohio-class fleet. While Williams and MacKenzie note that the B-21 bomber program is on track, a June 2024 US Government Accountability Office (GAO) report states that the Long Range Standoff (LRSO) program, intended to replace the AGM-86 ALCM aboard US bombers, faces risks in schedule and cost estimates due to tight timelines and overlapping testing phases. It also mentions that while the LRSO program has made design progress and early manufacturing preparations, challenges remain in software integration and meeting nuclear certification requirements, which could affect the missile's timely deployment and operational readiness. Williams and MacKenzie assert that the US defense industrial base and nuclear enterprise have atrophied since the end of the Cold War, with decades of underinvestment and consolidation eroding its nuclear defense-industrial base, leaving it ill-equipped for renewed great power competition. When New START expires next year, the US must ensure its nuclear deterrent effectively dissuades both China and Russia from nuclear aggression, including if the two US rivals act together. Meanwhile, Russia is deploying new systems, such as the Avangard and Poseidon, and China is expanding its ICBM silo fields and maturing a true nuclear triad—thereby intensifying the arms race that the US appears to be struggling to keep pace with. In an April 2023 Atlantic Council report, Keir Lieber and Daryl Press mention that in a nuclear tripolar world with China, Russia and the US all fielding large arsenals, the US must deter two peer rivals simultaneously, each capable of massive retaliation. However, they point out that the US's current counterforce doctrine, which eschews threats to enemy cities while targeting military assets, requires a large, survivable arsenal capable of retaliating against one adversary while still deterring the other, thereby escalating the risks of an arms race. In addition, they argue that a pure counterforce doctrine increases force demands without improving deterrence. Lieber and Press propose a hybrid US nuclear doctrine, with counterforce options for limited scenarios but threatening countervalue retaliation targeting cities, industrial assets and population centers in extreme ones. They assert a hybrid doctrine would more credibly deter China and Russia while avoiding an excessive force buildup. With New START set to expire in early 2026, the US's nuclear future hinges not just on how many warheads it can deploy but how credibly it can deter two giants bent on intensifying their nuclear threats.
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Eastern Laramie County landowners seek answers on impacts of Sentinel project
PINE BLUFFS — With the $141 billion Sentinel nuclear weapons program coming to rural areas of eastern Laramie County and western Nebraska, landowners expressed some of their concerns this week at a town hall hosted by the U.S. Air Force's Global Strike Command. Top concerns included how the Air Force plans to dig underground to replace old wires and how that will impact the property, and the new developments and number of people coming to the Pine Bluffs area. Representatives of the Air Force said they wanted to host Wednesday night's meeting to be transparent, but it was too early to directly answer many of the questions and concerns of Pine Bluffs-area residents. 'We owe you answers. Some of them may be tonight, some of them may be a year from now. We owe transparency to you that paid tax dollars so that we can do what we're doing,' said Maj. Gen. Colin Connor, director of Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Modernization, Site Activation Task Force. Connor described the project as a necessity for national defense to modernize the nation's intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). The project includes building more than 450 new Sentinel missiles, constructing 450 new unmanned launch facilities and creating 24 new launch centers with over 100 specialized vehicles and equipment, equipment for 16 secondary launch facilities and three new wing command centers. The project will replace the existing Minuteman III nuclear missiles, which were designed, built and installed underground largely in the 1960s. 'You guys have seen in the news, and it's been used in presidential debates of what our adversaries in Russia and China are doing,' Connor said. 'And while the Minuteman III maintains a great deterrent to our adversaries, its time is running out, and there's only so much you can do to continue to keep it and make it a credible deterrent. And when people say, 'what are you going to do next?' The answer is Sentinel.' Spanning three Air Force bases covering 32,000 square miles across five states, the project's impact will first be felt in the areas overseen by F.E. Warren Air Force Base in southeast Wyoming, western Nebraska and northeast Colorado before moving to Montana, followed by North Dakota. One of the first places that it will be felt is underneath landowners' properties. The Minuteman III missiles are stored underground in missile silos and are connected to missile alert facilities by copper wire. Across the nation, there are around 5,000 miles of wire connecting the nuclear missile systems. As part of the project, the Air Force plans to replace this copper wire with fiber cables. To do this, landowners must lease their land to the military where the wires lie. At 50 feet on either side of the cable, the landowners will lease 100-foot-wide lines on their property for several years during this project. One attendee, local landowner Burl Spainhower, asked if the new lines will be in the same place as the old ones. Col. James Rodriguez, Sentinel Infrastructure and Development Lead, said, 'The answer is maybe, but likely yes.' Sentinel Infrastructure & Deployment Lead Col. James Rodriguez Sentinel Infrastructure and Deployment Lead Col. James Rodriguez speaks during a Sentinel town hall Wednesday night in Pine Bluffs. The goal of the meeting was to update the public on the progress of the project to replace the country's land-based nuclear missiles, and for residents to ask questions and voice any concerns they have at this point. 'There will be some areas where we need to add new lines, to add additional redundancy and make the system even better, where we will need to acquire new real estate easements in order to make the system better,' he said. Connor said the Air Force hopes to begin digging to replace the old wires in 2027, with plans to finish that aspect of the project within three years. Travis Freeburg, another local landowner and attendee, expressed concern with how the military approaches lease negotiations on the easements, asking for fairness and consistency. 'We've been in negotiations with you guys at the Army Corps of Engineers on some access easements for the right of way and kind of ran into a wall a little bit. ... I guess that all I'm asking is just, with the size of this project, compensate the people fairly. We're not being unreasonable or anything like that,' he said. 'That's all we're asking is just to be fair.' The Army Corps of Engineers was tasked by the Air Force to lay the fiber cables. Lt. Col. Richard Childers represented the Army Corps of Engineers at the meeting. 'The valuation of land, it's a very scripted thing,' he said. 'We don't have artistic latitude to really get fancy with it, but our goal is to provide fair compensation for temporary use of your land.' Both Freeburg and Spainhower expressed support for the ultimate goal of the project, but wanted answers to some questions they have as the project proceeds, most of which the Air Force was not yet able to provide outside of rough estimates on timelines. One attendee asked about the impact on Pine Bluffs specifically, whether the town will see an influx of people and if there will be a new control center nearby. In the initial projections created for the project by Northrop Grumman, the lead contractor for Sentinel, some of the lay-down yards and workforce hubs were set to be created near Pine Bluffs. Rodriguez said this may or may not hold true moving forward as the Air Force continues to analyze the best and cheapest options. However, he said outside labor will have to be brought in for this project. 'The construction labor that is required for this will exceed your regional demand,' Rodriguez said. 'So, there is very likely going to be a need to bring in external workforce, and so again, that's something we don't have the full plan for yet because it depends on the design.' He was still uncertain when that phase of the project would be felt in the area, but estimated it would be at the beginning of the next decade. Rodriguez added that the Air Force hopes to build new missile silos on the same sites as existing silos, but that may not be possible in all cases. Factors like geography are being analyzed to determine where the new silos will be built. Tracy Jerman, representing Northrop Grumman, said she understands the concerns and frustrations with unanswered questions regarding the project, as it also impacts her community in Montana. However, she said it is best to allow more time for planning and analysis. 'If I were to go build a house, I wouldn't lay my foundation until the architect was done designing, because I could put a big foundation in and not need it,' she said. 'So, I think that's maybe the best analogy of Sentinel right now, is that we're, as a team, trying to work really hard on making sure that we're not spending extra money, or we're not spending extra time in your field when we don't need to. The idea is when we're ready, we're ready to go.'
