Next-gen ICBM program survives defunding attempt in House panel
By: Joe Gould
WASHINGTON ― The House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday shot down a plan to slash funding for the Air Force’s Ground Based Strategic Deterrent program. The vote was a bipartisan 44-12.
The proposal was to transfer $1 billion to a pandemic preparedness fund from the next-generation intercontinental ballistic missile effort, for which Northrop Grumman is the sole competitor. Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., sponsored it. Though HASC Chairman Adam Smith, D-Wash., supported it, most of the committee’s Democrats did not.
“The United States does not need to be modernizing the ICBMs,†Khanna said, citing experts who see the sea- and air-based legs of the nuclear triad as sufficient. “If there is an accidental launch of an ICBM, you can’t take it back. On the other hand, you can call a submarine back, you can call an aerial bomber back.â€
https://www.defensenews.com/congress/2020/07/01/next-gen-icbm-program-survives-defunding-attempt-in-house-panel/
