TV News LIES

Saturday, Dec 09th

Last update09:05:16 AM GMT

You are here News Military Why the US nuclear budget grows while the stockpile of warheads shrinks

Why the US nuclear budget grows while the stockpile of warheads shrinks

E-mail Print PDF

nuclear weaponf you simply tally the number of warheads, the United States’ nuclear stockpile looks like a shadow of what it once was. The number of warheads held by the U.S. peaked in 1967 at over 31,000, but has been steadily declining, mainly through a series of treaties with nuclear rival Russia.

By February 2018, the deadline for the most recent treaty, the U.S. will have pared down its active strategic arsenal (warheads ready to launch) to 1,605, the lowest number since Dwight Eisenhower was president.

And yet, American taxpayers will soon be spending more on nuclear weapons in real dollars than they have since the end of the Cold War. In October 2013, just four months after calling for yet another one-third reduction in the stockpile, President Barack Obama announced plans to “modernize” the entire nuclear arsenal over the next 30 years, arguing that updating and replacing the so-called nuclear triad — the submarines, jets and ballistic missiles designed to deliver warheads — will help create a leaner, sleeker nuclear fleet. But leaner doesn’t mean cheaper, at least not in the short term.

According to a recent study by two researchers at the Monterey Institute of International Studies, Jeffrey Lewis and Jon Wolfsthal, Obama’s modernization program could carry a price tag of over $1 trillion, vaulting nuclear weapons spending relative to the overall defense budget to a level comparable to the 1980s.

More...


Most Recent Related Stories...


Republican Tommy Tuberville's military holds in protest of abortion policy come to an end

Tuberville gives inRepublican Sen. Tommy Tuberville's blockade on military promotions that stretched over 10 months has come to...

VOICES On Thanksgiving, many military families sit down to an empty table. It's unconscionable.

Military needy at Thanksgiving Last week, I decided to beat the Thanksgiving rush by shopping at my local grocery store...

US warship attacked in Red Sea as Israel-Hamas war escalates

 US warships fired onAn American warship and multiple commercial ships came under attack Sunday in the Red Sea, and...

VA halts foreclosures for thousands of veterans about to needlessly lose their homes

VA stops foreclosures on vets The Department of Veterans Affairs is halting foreclosures for 6 months for veterans and servicemembers who...
 
America's # 1 Enemy
Tee Shirt
& Help Support TvNewsLIES.org!
TVNL Tee Shirt
 
TVNL TOTE BAG
Conserve our Planet
& Help Support TvNewsLIES.org!
 
Get your 9/11 & Media
Deception Dollars
& Help Support TvNewsLIES.org!
 
The Loaded Deck
The First & the Best!
The Media & Bush Admin Exposed!