Trump Stumbles Into The Nuclear 'Missile Gap'

[soryang]

Trump Stumbles Into The Nuclear ‘Missile Gap’
Nukes haven't stopped wars from breaking out for 75 years. Yet the administration is asking for $46 billion to build more.

FEBRUARY 12, 2020|12:01 AM
JEFF GROOM

On Monday, President Trump delivered his $740.5 billion defense budget to Congress. A first pass on the pork reveals the usual suspects: $69 billion to fund ongoing wars, a few more KC-46 refueling tankers on order, the Navy gets a little less money, the Air Force a little more. What should catch the casual observer’s eye, however, is the increase in funding for nuclear weapons and research.

As reported by Reuters, “nuclear weapons modernization rose 18% compared to last year to $29 billion dollars.” These funds will upgrade current command-and-control and delivery systems, such as the Columbia class nuclear submarine, which will be replacing the Ohio class of boomer (read: nuclear launch-capable) subs. There is also a $19.8 billion increase for the semi-autonomous National Nuclear Security Administration which runs the country’s nuclear laboratories, like Los Alamos.

Additionally, the U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) has been tasked with evaluating more defensive layers for the continental United States, and were granted $9.1 billion in the budget to “develop a prototype THAAD interceptor missile.” This budget would also “help fund the expansion of the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system, a network of radars, anti-ballistic missiles, and other equipment” in defense against Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles (ICBM).

More at link:

https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/is-trump-stumbling-into-the-nuclear-missile-gap/

[onecaliberal]

1. Fuck no

[Coleman]

2. More development of Thaad is not a bad thing

THAAD is a kinetic energy weapon (non-nuclear) used to destroy mid range ballistic missiles. I actually work at the company that builds balistic missiles as targets for THAAD. Just last August the remote THAAD was tested and successful. THAAD systems had to be hard-wired to their target acquisition system. The remote THAAD can be located away from the acquisition system.