The Pentagon is beginning a major review of U.S. nuclear weapons policy, the first in seven years, the military announced Monday.
The nuclear posture review, which is expected to take six months, is an evaluation both of the state of the U.S. nuclear arsenals, and the threat from potential nuclear-armed adversary.
The review was ordered by President Trump in a memorandum he signed shortly after taking office, and will be headed by the deputy secretary of defense and the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs.
The presidential memorandum, dated Jan. 27, said the president directs the Pentagon to examine whether the U.S. nuclear deterrent is “safe, secure, effective, reliable and appropriately tailored to deter 21st-century threats and reassure our allies,” according to a Pentagon statement.
The U.S. commander in charge of nuclear weapons, Gen. John Hyten, told Congress this month the review will begin with a revised assessment of the dangers posed by America’s nuclear rivals.
“And the first thing we’ll look at is the threat scenario. We’ll look at Russia, China, North Korea and Iran in particular to make sure we understand what those threats are,” Hyten said in testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee on April 4.
Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., and ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, said he hopes this review gets it right.
“I hope that it includes a thorough assessment of policy options that would allow us to avoid a costly and dangerous nuclear arms race; and that it properly analyzes the enormous risks inherent in lowering the threshold for using nuclear weapons,” he said in a statement.
“With over 4,000 nuclear weapons, we have enough destructive power in our arsenal to destroy the world several times over,” he said. “It is time to rethink what the priorities should be for a strong yet affordable nuclear arsenal, rather than embarking on a trillion-dollar modernization plan that will drag us into perilous nuclear competition and drain much-needed resources from conventional weapon systems and nondefense programs.”
