Nukewatch Quarterly Spring 2021
Legislation to kill the nuclear-armed sea-launched cruise missile (SLCM) was unveiled March 4 by Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Maryland and Rep. Joe Courtney, D-Connecticut. If passed, the bill would prohibit research and development, production, and deployment of the new submarine-launched missile. The two said that the Obama White House decided that a similar weapon was redundant and had it retired. In a related matter, Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., urged President Biden, March 2, to cancel the SLCM-N program, and asked the president to “pause further development” of the Ground Based Strategic Deterrent — a planned $264 billion replacement for today’s 400 Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles. In their letter, Markey and Khanna also urged Biden to adopt a “no first-use” doctrine for nuclear weapons, reminding the president that “there is no such thing as a winnable nuclear war.” –Defense News, March 4, 2021
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