{"id":42738,"date":"2022-04-05T16:38:21","date_gmt":"2022-04-05T16:38:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2022\/04\/05\/us-strategic-command-chief-sea-missile-cancellation-opens-deterrence-and-assurance-gap\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T23:33:03","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T23:33:03","slug":"us-strategic-command-chief-sea-missile-cancellation-opens-deterrence-and-assurance-gap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2022\/04\/05\/us-strategic-command-chief-sea-missile-cancellation-opens-deterrence-and-assurance-gap\/","title":{"rendered":"US Strategic Command chief: Sea missile cancellation opens \u2018deterrence and assurance gap\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WASHINGTON \u2015 Following U.S. President Joe Biden\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/congress\/2022\/04\/01\/biden-plan-to-shelve-trump-era-sea-nuke-comes-under-fire\/\" target=\"_blank\">plans to cancel the Sea-Launched Cruise Missile-Nuclear development program<\/a>, the U.S. admiral who oversees America\u2019s nuclear forces warned lawmakers Monday he sees \u201ca deterrence and assurance gap.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a letter Monday to lawmakers, Adm. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/pentagon\/2022\/03\/08\/us-nuclear-forces-chief-very-concerned-by-russia-china-cooperation\/\" target=\"_blank\">Chas Richard<\/a>, U.S. Strategic Command\u2019s chief, said he was otherwise satisfied with Biden\u2019s fiscal 2023 defense budget proposal, but made the point about the SLCM-N. On Tuesday, it became fodder in an unfolding fight over plans to defund the submarine-launched low-yield missile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhile I am satisfied USSTRATCOM priorities are adequately addressed, the current situation in Ukraine and China\u2019s nuclear trajectory convinces me a deterrence and assurance gap exists,\u201d Richard wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cTo address this gap, a low-yield, non-ballistic capability to deter and respond without visible generation is necessary to provide a persistent, survivable, regional capability to deter adversaries, assure allies, provide flexible options, as well as complement existing capabilities. I believe a capability with these attributes should be re-examined in the near future,\u201d the letter continued.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2022\/03\/29\/inflation-sparks-new-fight-over-bidens-military-budget-request\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP22087687269362.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Inflation sparks new fight over Biden\u2019s military budget request<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Spiking inflations\u2019s potential effect on the Pentagon has emerged as a line of attack for Republicans who argue President Joe Biden\u2019s defense budget was already treading water when it was introduced Monday.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Though military leaders are required by law to provide Congress with their wish lists or unfunded priorities, Richard\u2019s letter did not make any requests for a particular program or funding amount. Biden\u2019s $813.4 billion national defense budget includes $50.9 billon in nuclear weapons spending, up $7.7 billion from the 2022 request.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A House Armed Services Committee hearing Tuesday offered a stage for the debate over the composition of that budget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin defended DoD\u2019s $34.4 billion budget for nuclear weapons modernization as \u201cvery significant.\u201d He acknowledged Russia has a nuclear-capable ballistic missile submarines, but downplayed the utility of the SLCM-N.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe marginal capability that this provides is far outweighed by the cost,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Marking a break between civilian and uniformed leaders, the chief of U.S. European Command, Gen. Tod Wolters, told lawmakers last week he backs SLCM-N.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Then on Tuesday, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Mark Milley, said his past support for SLCM-N hasn\u2019t changed. The Strategic Forces Subcommittee\u2019s top Republican, Rep. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/opinion\/commentary\/2022\/03\/09\/in-the-wake-of-russias-invasion-the-us-must-refocus-on-nuclear-deterrence\/\" target=\"_blank\">Doug Lamborn<\/a>, who elicited the answer, quoted Richard\u2019s letter at the hearing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But House Seapower Subcommittee Chairman <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/congress\/2021\/06\/03\/lawmakers-champion-china-deterrence-fund-but-not-bidens-version\/\" target=\"_blank\">Joe Courtney<\/a>, D-Conn., defended the administration, arguing that installing low-yield nuclear warheads on Virginia-class attack subs would mean less space for conventional weaponry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI think the administration made the right choice in terms of keeping the attack subs focused on their main mission,\u201d Courtney said. \u201cPutting tactical [nuclear] weapons on there changes it in a clunky way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith, D-Wash., acknowledged the likelihood of a fight in the committee and echoed Courtney\u2019s view that adding nuclear weapons would complicate the mission of attack submarines. He pointed to ongoing plans to develop a similarly capable air leg of the nuclear triad: the long-range standoff weapon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pressed by Smith to explain his views further, Milley said that with roughly 50 attack submarines in the fleet, there was room for some to get the SLCM-N and others to continue their usual missions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cSome of those would have a mission change, others would not,\u201d Milley said before pivoting to argue that America\u2019s nuclear arsenal is sufficient. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cNo foe should underestimate our capability because of &#8230; a decision to produce or not produce a SLCM-N. Our nuclear capability is much, much bigger than that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Amid U.S. Joe Biden\u2019s plans to cancel the Sea-Launched Cruise Missile-Nuclear development program, the U.S. admiral who oversees America\u2019s nuclear forces warned lawmakers Monday he sees \u201ca deterrence and assurance gap.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":83600,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":8,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":{"2":{"categories":["pentagon-congress","news"],"primary_category":"pentagon-congress"},"4":{"categories":["pentagon-congress","news","daily-news-roundup","newsletters"],"primary_category":"pentagon-congress"},"5":{"categories":["pentagon-congress","news","daily-news-roundup","newsletters"],"primary_category":"pentagon-congress"},"6":{"categories":["pentagon-congress","news","daily-news-roundup","newsletters"],"primary_category":"pentagon-congress"},"7":{"categories":["pentagon-congress","news","daily-news-roundup","newsletters"],"primary_category":"pentagon-congress"},"9":{"categories":[],"primary_category":""}}},"categories":[8,160,36,19],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3446],"class_list":["post-42738","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-congress","category-daily-news-roundup","category-newsletters","category-pentagon"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"U4OYJN52QVGMPMCRCJYLSPPUWM","arc_canonical_url":"\/pentagon\/2022\/04\/05\/us-strategic-command-chief-sea-missile-cancellation-opens-deterrence-and-assurance-gap\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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