The QDR report announces, ex nihilo, that the Pentagon has decided to cut the Air Force’s Minuteman III ICBM force by 10 percent. Starting in 2007, it will take the fleet of long-range strategic nuclear weapons down from 500 to only 450 systems. The Pentagon does not justify the move with any analysis, at least none given publicly. All it provides is a claim that it is eliminating the ICBMs as part of an effort “to achieve the characteristics of the future joint force and build on progress to date.”
A top Pentagon tech official called on industry this week to help the military develop “lighter, more efficient” directed energy weapons designed to go on aircraft and conduct special operations missions or down drones—areas where the Air Force’s directed energy efforts have been quiet as of late.