By Amaani Lyle
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Mar. 7, 2014 – The Defense Department’s nuclear deterrent
is the ultimate protection for the United States while also assuring distant
allies of their security against regional aggression, a senior Pentagon
official told Congress yesterday.
Elaine Bunn, deputy assistant secretary of defense for
nuclear and missile defense policy told the Senate Armed Services Committee’s
strategic forces subcommittee that while Defense Department modernization goals
largely have not changed since 2010, some adjustments are on the horizon.
One such change, she reported, involves the new Strategic
Arms Reduction Treaty force structure. “The administration is considering how
to reduce nondeployed strategic delivery vehicles to comply with the limits of
the new START treaty by February 2018,” she said, “and we will make a final
force structure decision and inform Congress prior to the start of fiscal year
2015.”
Bunn expressed concern about Russian activity that appears
to be inconsistent with the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. “We've
raised the issue with Russia,” she told the senators. They provided an answer
that was not satisfactory to us, and we told them that the issue is not
closed.”
With regard to recent ethical issues involving Air Force and
Navy nuclear personnel, Bunn noted that Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has
created both internal and external special review panels. “Those reviews are
not about assigning blame,” she said. “They're about identifying, assessing,
and correcting any systemic deficiencies that we may uncover and in applying
the best practices for carrying out our nuclear mission across the nuclear
force.”
Bunn also said the recently released 2014 Quadrennial
Defense Review makes clear the key role of nuclear forces in the DOD strategy.
“It … supports our ability to project power by communicating
to potential nuclear-armed adversaries that they cannot escalate their way out
of failed conventional aggression,” Bunn said. The department's budget request
for fiscal year 2015 supports DOD’s nuclear policy goals as laid out in the
2010 nuclear posture review, in President Barack Obama’s June 2013 nuclear
employment strategy, and in the 2014 QDR, she added. As a result, Bunn
reported, Pentagon officials will continue to ensure that the current and
future administrations have suitable options for deterring, responding to, and
managing a diverse range of situations, including regional deterrence
challenges.
“We continue to work closely with our allies, some of whom
live in very dangerous neighborhoods, to ensure continuing confidence in our
shared national security goals, including assurance of our extended nuclear
deterrence commitments,” she told the Senate panel.
Critical to maintaining a safe, secure and effective force
is the preservation of the nuclear triad: strategic bombers, intercontinental
ballistic missiles and submarine-launched ballistic missiles, Bunn said.
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