Cornhusker State News

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and the top Republican on the Subcommittee on Strategic Forces, recently co-led the Sentinel Nuclear Deterrence Act of 2023. The bill would strengthen and solidify the Sentinel program, which is vital to U.S. nuclear deterrence. The legislation would provide multiyear procurement authority for LGM-35A Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missiles, help to stabilize key supply chains, and increase program efficiency.

“I’ve pushed for years on the importance of modernizing our nuclear triad to keep pace with the growing threats we face. There is no question that the Sentinel project is the most significant and complex weapon system in recent U.S. history. Our bill provides Sentinel with additional support to keep this vital project on schedule,” said Senator Fischer.

In addition to Senator Fischer, the bill was cosponsored by U.S. Senators Mitt Romney (R-Utah), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), and Steve Daines (R-Mont.).

Background:

According to the 2022 United States Nuclear Posture Review, the People’s Republic of China “has embarked on an ambitious expansion, modernization, and diversification of its nuclear forces” and the Russian Federation continues to “modernize and expand its nuclear forces.”

The nuclear triad provides nuclear deterrence through land-, sea-, and air-based forces. In order to modernize the land-based leg of the nuclear triad, the U.S. Air Force will replace the LGM–30G Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile weapon system with the LGM–35A Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile weapon system. 

Original source can be found here