A recent report was published called the Bipartisan Commission on the Strategic Posture of the United States. The 160 page report discussed “the strategic posture of the United States, including nuclear weapons policy, strategy, and force structure” because of the “troubling and increasingly aggressive behaviors of Russia and China over the past
decade.”
After receiving the report, U.S. Representative Mike Rogers (R-AL03) said, “The United States must deter two near-peer nuclear adversaries,” referring to China and Russia.
Rogers is the Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. Chairman Rogers also thanked the Commission for their hard work.
“For the first time in history, the United States must deter two near-peer nuclear adversaries at the same time,” Rogers said in a statement on Thursday. “The goal of the Strategic Posture Commission was to examine the long-term strategic posture of the United States. The results of their report detailed the gravity of the situation we face and emphasized that the current trajectory of the US nuclear deterrent is insufficient to deter the looming Chinese and Russian threat. I want to thank the commission for producing a clear-eyed, sobering consensus report. The details of this report should serve as a wakeup call for our strategic posture – we need to rapidly make changes now if we want to deter tomorrow.”
Rogers shared several key takeaways from the report:
· “The nuclear force modernization program of record (POR) is absolutely essential, although not sufficient to meet the new threats posed by Russia and China.”
· “The current modernization program should be supplemented to ensure U.S. nuclear strategy remains effective in a two-nuclear-peer environment.”
· “A number of commissioners believe it is inevitable that the size of the U.S. nuclear stockpile and the number of delivery systems should increase.”
· “The size and composition of the nuclear force must account for the possibility of combined aggression from Russia and China. U.S. strategy should no longer treat China’s nuclear forces as a ‘lesser included’ threat. The United States needs a nuclear posture capable of simultaneously deterring both countries.”
· “The U.S. theater nuclear force posture should be urgently modified to: Provide the President a range of militarily effective nuclear response options to deter or counter Russian or Chinese limited nuclear use in theater. Address the need for U.S. theater nuclear forces deployed or based in the Asia-Pacific theater.”
· “The Commission recommends Congress fund an overhaul and expansion of the capacity of the U.S. nuclear weapons defense industrial base and the DOE/NNSA nuclear security enterprise, including weapons science, design, and production infrastructure. Specifically:` Congress should fund the full range of NNSA’s recapitalization efforts, such as pit production and all operations related to critical materials.”
· “The United States develop and field homeland IAMD that can deter and defeat coercive attacks by Russia and China, and determine the capabilities needed to stay ahead of the North Korean threat.”
· “The Commission’s assessment is that the United States must consider the possibility that Iran will become a nuclear state during the 2027-2035 timeframe.”
· Auctioning the 3.1-3.45GHz band (of spectrum) risks impacting “various types of shipborne, land-based, and aeronautical mobile radar systems [used] for national defense purposes…We have many radars [in the 3.1-3.45 GHz segment] that are critical for our service members to train on before they deploy into harm’s way overseas, and also to protect our homeland . . . it would take us two decades and hundreds of billions of dollars to be able to refactor and move those radars out of there.”
· The commission recommends that “the United States urgently deploy a more resilient space architecture and adopt a strategy that includes both offensive and defensive elements to ensure U.S. access to and operations in space.”
According to the report, “In the context of a strategic posture deploying both conventional and nuclear capability, the traditional role of nuclear weapons in U.S. defense strategy remains valid and of continuing importance: deterrence of adversaries; assurance of Allies; achieving U.S. objectives should deterrence fail; and hedging against adverse events.”
According to the report, “The aggressive foreign policies of China and Russia, the extent of their nuclear modernization, and the possibility of conflict with China and Russia were not foreseen.”
Current U.S. strategic force requirements were set more than a decade ago in a world where the threats were “significantly more benign” than they are now.
“In the emerging environment, the United States must maintain a resilient nuclear force that can absorb a first strike and respond effectively with enough forces to cause unacceptable damage to the aggressor while still posing a credible threat to the other nuclear power,” the report states.
“The current multi-program, multi-decade U.S. nuclear modernization program is necessary, but not sufficient to enable the nuclear strategy recommended by the Commission to address an unprecedented two-nuclear-peer threat environment. To avoid additional risk and meet emerging challenges, the United States must act now to pursue additional measures and programs,” the report continued. “Additional measures beyond the planned modernization of strategic delivery vehicles and warheads may include either or both qualitative and quantitative adjustments in the U.S. strategic posture.”
Rogers is in his eleventh term representing Alabama’s Third Congressional District.
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