The Defense Department on Tuesday announced a strategic force structure designed to comply with New START mandates, including the removal of 50 Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles from its silos, according to an April 8 Pentagon release. By Feb. 5, 2018, the US will have a total of 454 ICBM launchers in its deployed and non-deployed force, 280 submarine-launched ballistic missiles, and 66 heavy bombers, states the release. There also will be 400 deployed ICBMs and 240 deployed SLBMs. “This capable, survivable, and balanced force fully supports the President’s national security strategy and nuclear weapons employment strategy, and maintains strategic stability and deterrence, extended deterrence, and allied assurance,” states the release. (US Nuclear Force Structure fact sheet.) (See also Shifting Towards Equilibrium.)
Since President Donald Trump first unveiled his “Golden Dome” missile defense initiative in late January, much of the focus for it has been focused on space—how the Pentagon may deploy dozens, if not hundreds, of sensors and interceptors into orbit to protect the continental U.S. from missile barrages. But the Air…