The funniest military news I’ve heard this week is that two Democratic lawmakers in Congress are pushing a bill that would cancel the U.S. development program for a new generation of submarine-launched cruise missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads, and that the Democrats want to cancel not only the sea-based missiles but also the development of new land-based ballistic missiles.
Here is a little explanation, the military has a nuclear bomb also need to have a launch vehicle for nuclear bombs, can not let the nuclear bomb explode in their own homes. The navy, army, and air force all have their own weapons. The Navy relies on nuclear ballistic missile submarines, which launch intercontinental missiles carrying nuclear warheads, the U.S. Ohio class (nuclear submarines) can carry more than 100 nuclear bombs, launching Trident submarine-launched intercontinental missiles, with the ability to destroy a country; while the Army uses land-based intercontinental missiles Volunteer 3 (Minuteman III); the Air Force is a bomber carrying nuclear bombs, such as the B-52. The famous stealth bomber, the B-2 Phantom, all have the ability to carry nuclear bombs.
The U.S. and Russia are most interested in ballistic missile submarines, and 60% of U.S. nuclear warheads are allocated to nuclear submarines. Nuclear submarines are in the ocean every day, the enemy can not find you, even if the enemy preemptively, all your air and land bases destroyed, but as long as you still have a nuclear submarine, you will be able to destroy the enemy, this is the nuclear deterrent. Others dare not hit you because you have a backhand. Now well, the Democrats’ proposal is to destroy itself.
Democratic Lawmaker Proposal: Block Development of Sea-Based Cruise Missiles
According to a report in Defense News, Senator Van Hollen of Maryland, and Representative Cortney of Connecticut, introduced a bill into Congress this Thursday to block any development of a new SLCM-N-style cruise missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead, a research program they believe would add $9 billion to the congressional budget.
First, let’s explain what SLCM-N is. SLCM is for submarine-launched cruise missiles. Cruise missiles and intercontinental missiles are different, cruise range is close, a few hundred kilometers to two or three thousand kilometers up, and are flying in the atmosphere. But the intercontinental missile range is far, can reach tens of thousands of kilometers, and the flight altitude is very high, can be up to several hundred kilometers, not easy to intercept.
The proposal by U.S. lawmakers is to cancel the development of cruise missiles, which was originally planned to be approved by Trump in 2018. To be honest, the U.S. sea-based nuclear deterrent is achieved primarily through Trident ballistic missiles, so even if the new cruise missile development program were canceled it would not have much impact on the overall nuclear deterrent.
But the Democrats are not only opposed to sea-based ballistic missiles, they are even opposed to land-based ballistic missile development. In this article, it is also mentioned that Democratic lawmakers, Mark of Massachusetts and Khanna of California, have urged President Biden to abandon development of the latest land-based ballistic missile, the GBSD.
Land-Based GBSD Missile Developed to Replace Volunteer ICBM
Last September, the Trump Administration awarded Northrop Grumman a contract to develop the ballistic missile GBSD, which is intended to replace the current U.S. Volunteer Intercontinental Missile, and is expected to produce 650 of the missiles at a total cost of more than $100 billion. The GBSD is expected to replace the Volunteer intercontinental missile starting in 2029.
The current land-based ballistic missile used by the United States is the Yiliyong. The GBSD has a range of 13,000 kilometers and uses a three-stage solid-fuel rocket motor. First entering service in 1962, and the newest version, the Yilong Soldier III, also entered service in 1970, these ICBMs have been in service for more than 50 years and have undergone only minimal upgrades in their 50 years of use. So in recent years the U.S. has begun the development of new ICBMs to replace the Boxer.
U.S. Gen. Richard said you can’t let the Boxer III missiles extend their Life any longer, and it would cost too much money to extend their life now. Richard also told reporters that it is unrealistic to try to cancel the GBSD program, and that the Yard Soldier ICBMs need to be replaced urgently.
Make the U.S. completely lose its nuclear deterrent capability?
We know that more than 90 percent of U.S. nuclear warheads are equipped on sea-based ballistic missiles and land-based ballistic missiles, the Democratic Party’s move is to make the U.S. completely lose its nuclear deterrence capability. In the future, when we meet with others, we will say, “Look how powerful I am, I have 6,000 nuclear bombs, but I don’t have missiles to launch them, I can only put them at Home as decoration, are you waiting for the nuclear bombs to self-destruct? I think this is not just nonsense. I don’t want missiles, so many nuclear warheads you keep, do you want to give out year-end bonuses this year, one of you congressmen to carry a nuclear bomb home? Put them under the Christmas tree.
I personally believe that maintaining a certain nuclear deterrent capability is vital to the United States, and the cancellation of the development plan set down during the Trump era is more of a political consideration for the Democrats. It is estimated that the bill will be opposed by Republican and some Democratic lawmakers in Congress, and it is not likely to pass.
Also two Democrats oppose any deployment of nuclear warheads on Virginia-class attack submarines, saying it would distract from the primary mission of Virginia nuclear submarines, which they were meant to target at sea, or to launch Tomahawk missiles for ground attack.
I think the content of this proposal is reasonable, Virginia nuclear submarines are attack nuclear submarines, their primary weapons are torpedoes and Tomahawk cruise missiles, they don’t carry ballistic missiles per se, and they don’t carry nuclear warheads as they should. But such a decision should come from the military, not from Congress, which should not have command over the specific deployment of the military, so from this point of view, such a motion is not appropriate.
U.S. nuclear weapons arsenal is the most advanced in the world
The U.S. nuclear weapons arsenal is the most advanced and comprehensive in the world, and the modernization of nuclear weapons has become the military’s largest purchase in the last decade. The U.S. military’s intercontinental ballistic missiles, strategic bombers, and nuclear ballistic missile submarines are all set to face modernization.
On the intercontinental missile side, there is the GBSD ICBM we mentioned today. The current U.S. submarine-launched ballistic missile is the Trident-2 (D5). The Trident-2 is deployed on 14 Ohio-class strategic missile nuclear submarines, each of which can be equipped with 24, and constitutes the U.S. Navy’s strategic nuclear force. Trident and its developmental versions are both developed and manufactured by Lockheed Martin. The United States is said to be implementing 2 Trident missile improvement programs in preparation for the development of a new submarine-launched ballistic missile.
In order to extend the service life of the Trident-2 missile, the U.S. Navy has improved and extended the life of its engine, guidance system and electronic system, called the Trident-2D5LE missile. The U.S. Navy has currently procured 108 D5LE missiles, which will be equipped on Ohio-class nuclear submarines and will be in service until 2042, and will also be equipped with the new Columbia-class strategic nuclear submarines in the future.
In terms of strategic bombers, the U.S. has developed the latest stealth bomber, the B-21, and the first prototype is currently under final assembly and is expected to make its maiden flight next year. From the information revealed so far, the B-21 is a smaller, cheaper and more technologically advanced stealth bomber based on the B-2 Phantom Bomber, and may be transformed into an unmanned stealth bomber in the future with the maturation of artificial intelligence technology.
The next generation of U.S. Columbia-class strategic nuclear submarine has started construction last year and will fully replace the Ohio-class nuclear submarine. Construction of the Columbia, the first of the Columbia class, the fifth generation of U.S. strategic nuclear submarines, began May 23, 2019, at Newport News Shipbuilding. The Columbia class is slightly larger than its predecessor, the Ohio class, at 170.7 meters long and 13.1 meters in diameter, with a submerged displacement of 21,144 tons. Its new reactor has a 42-year service life and no longer requires nuclear fuel replacement during its full life cycle.
The Columbia-class strategic nuclear submarine has increased in size and tonnage by reducing the number of missile launchers from 24 in the Ohio class to 16, carrying the Trident-2D-5LE submarine-launched ballistic missile. The number of ships built has also been reduced from 14 to 12 in the Ohio class, although their attendance is far greater than that of the Ohio class, and their deterrent effect is not diminished.
The United States has the most powerful nuclear force in the world. It is also constantly updating its nuclear weapons force, and although Democratic lawmakers recently introduced a bill to block the development of the latest land-based ballistic missile, it is not expected to pass Congress. The United States is a democracy, and all voices are heard. After Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor, Congress voted to declare war on Japan, and it is a wonder that a single member of Congress voted against it. It is by allowing multiple voices to coexist that the entire country can choose a more effective path forward.
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