Much like the procurement holiday that the Defense Department embarked upon in the 1990s in the euphoria of the initial post-Cold War period, Air Force Gen. Kevin Chilton contends that the US also took “a holiday from serious thought on deterrence” during that period. “I think we kind of skipped a generation there,” Chilton said during a Capitol Hill speech Tuesday (see above). But it’s time to “re-stimulate thoughts on deterrence,” he said, noting that “deterrence is still as important today as it was in the 1980s, ’70s, ’60s, and ’50s.” Chilton said he encourages war colleges to look at how deterrence is practiced and mull difficult questions such as if there is still a role for nuclear weapons in the future. “I am not so sure the [deterrence] theory has changed, but perhaps the practice has changed,” he said, adding, “Perhaps the practice needs to change.”
Air Force Conducts Test Launch of Minuteman III ICBM
May 21, 2025
The Air Force tested an unarmed Minuteman III ICBM from Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif,. at 12:01 a.m. Pacific Time May. 21. The successful test saw the missile equipped with a single reentry vehicle travel more than 4,200 miles to strike a test site near Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall…