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 is launching an effort to develop a new stand-off missile with a range of 1,000 nautical miles, or 1,150 miles, that would eventually be used for both air-to-air and air-to-surface missions.