At another Capitol Hill hearing later on Wednesday, Marine Corps Gen. James Cartwright, head of US Strategic Command, acknowledged that the 2007 defense budget called for cutting the Minuteman force from 500 to 450, however, he added that the number of warheads would stay the same. That answers some of the mail, but there are lawmakers waiting to hear whether it will be their state that takes the hit.
The Air Force plans to finalize an acquisition strategy for its new Looking Glass nuclear command, control, and communications program by September—part of a prelude to a significant increase in the service’s NC3 spending in the coming years.