The Trump Administration’s ongoing nuclear posture review will look at “capabilities in cyber and capabilities in space” in its assessment of US strategic deterrence, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein said Wednesday. “That’s all going to be in the nuclear posture review,” he said at a Heritage Foundation event in Washington, D.C. In addition to making recommendations on the modernization of the nuclear triad and related systems, Goldfein said he expects the review to offer guidance on the question, “What does deterrence look like in the twenty-first century?” Gen. John Hyten, boss of US Strategic Command, recently said that such a vision would require thinking about space, cyber, and conventional capabilities alongside the traditional strategic deterrent provided by nuclear forces. Goldfein said that “the timeline of the President’s nuclear posture review couldn’t be better,” and that modernizing the Ground Based Strategic Deterrent and “nuclear command and control” systems remains a “top priority” for him.
The use of a military counter-drone laser on the southwest border this week—which prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to abruptly close the airspace over El Paso, Texas—will be a “case study” on the complex web of authorities needed to employ such weapons near civilian areas and the consequences of agencies…
