The proposed new nuclear air-launched cruise missile “does not reflect our current national security needs,” wrote seven senators in a letter to President Obama this week. Building a new nuclear cruise missile “would make our country less safe,” and because the Obama Administration has committed to extending the life of the B61 gravity bomb and developing a Long-Range Strike Bomber, a new cruise missile would be redundant, the senators wrote. The letter was signed by senators Edward Markey (D-Mass.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Al Franken (D-Minn.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.). The letter is dated Dec. 15, one day after the Air Force Association sent a letter to senior leaders of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees, asking Congress to fund the nuclear-armed Long-Range Standoff (LRSO) missile, planned to replace the current air-launched cruise missile. (See also LRS-B Versus Standoff Missiles.) (Read AFA’s letter.)
In the face of Chinese war plans to disrupt U.S. command-and-control networks in the event of a conflict, the Air Force needs to focus less on its “connect everything” efforts and prepare its combat aviators to fight without a constant connection to higher-ups, according to a new report from AFA’s…
