The United States has not yet determined what its ultimate nuclear force mixture will be once it fully implements the provisions of the New START agreement with Russia, said Gen. Robert Kehler, commander of US Strategic Command, Tuesday during a speech in Washington, D.C. “There is a balance here between keeping the force operational and reconfiguring the operational force,” said Kehler during a National Defense University Foundation-sponsored event on Capitol Hill. “We are working on the plans, but we have not made the final decisions.” Under the terms of the treaty, the United States and Russia must each limit their strategic nuclear forces to no more than 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads, 700 deployed launchers, and 800 deployed and non-deployed launchers within seven years of the agreement entering into force, which occurred on Feb. 5. Continue
Secretary of Defense Austin Lloyd III met with his counterparts from Australia, Japan and the Philippines to discuss bolstering defense ties on May 2. The discussion included plans for joint F-35 exercises with Japan and Australia in the coming years.