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U.S. needs modern nuclear deterrent despite high price tag -Hagel
Source: Reuters
U.S. needs modern nuclear deterrent despite high price tag -Hagel
BY DAVID ALEXANDER
ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico Thu Jan 9, 2014 1:19am EST
(Reuters) - Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said on Wednesday the United States had always supported a strong nuclear deterrent and would continue to do so, even as it braces for a nuclear forces overhaul that analysts say could cost $1 trillion over 30 years.
"To modernize your nuclear weapons stockpile and assure that they continue to stay secure and safe, it takes money, it takes resources," Hagel said after touring Sandia National Laboratories and Kirtland Air Force Base, two facilities involved in maintaining the weapons.
The U.S. defense chief said upgrading U.S. nuclear warheads and the submarines, bombers and missiles that deliver them would require setting priorities and minding the budget, but he added the country "has always been willing to make that investment and I think it will continue to make it."
The visit was part of a two-day trip to bases supporting U.S. nuclear forces. Hagel travels on Thursday to F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne, Wyoming, where he will see intercontinental ballistic missile silos and talk to troops in a nuclear mission that has been troubled by morale problems.
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BY DAVID ALEXANDER
ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico Thu Jan 9, 2014 1:19am EST
(Reuters) - Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said on Wednesday the United States had always supported a strong nuclear deterrent and would continue to do so, even as it braces for a nuclear forces overhaul that analysts say could cost $1 trillion over 30 years.
"To modernize your nuclear weapons stockpile and assure that they continue to stay secure and safe, it takes money, it takes resources," Hagel said after touring Sandia National Laboratories and Kirtland Air Force Base, two facilities involved in maintaining the weapons.
The U.S. defense chief said upgrading U.S. nuclear warheads and the submarines, bombers and missiles that deliver them would require setting priorities and minding the budget, but he added the country "has always been willing to make that investment and I think it will continue to make it."
The visit was part of a two-day trip to bases supporting U.S. nuclear forces. Hagel travels on Thursday to F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne, Wyoming, where he will see intercontinental ballistic missile silos and talk to troops in a nuclear mission that has been troubled by morale problems.
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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/01/09/us-usa-nuclear-weapons-idUSBREA0806D20140109