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The modernization of the U.S. nuclear stockpile is likely to be the most contentious part of the fiscal 2021 defense authorization, according to Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Texas.
The former chairman and now current ranking Republican of the House Armed Services Committee spoke at length on Monday about the upcoming challenges the U.S. is likely to face and how those challenges will shape the fiscal 2021 defense appropriations.
“I believe nuclear deterrence is the bedrock upon which all the rest of our defense efforts rest on,” Thornberry said, adding “I think some of our expertise about nuclear deterrence has atrophied over the years.”
Thornberry said the nuclear triad — which consists of strategic bombers, land-based missiles and ballistic-missile submarines — accounts for only 7% of the total defense budget. However, much of the triad is aging and are operating past its original life expectancy.
Beyond modernizing the equipment responsible for the nuclear triad, Thornberry also noted that nuclear command-and-control capabilities must also be upgraded.
“I’ve asked at least the last two or three chairmen of the Joint Chiefs what their No. 1 priority is and pretty much every one of them said nuclear command and control — it’s a big deal,” he said.
To ensure the military’s modernization efforts are funded, the congressman said he believes the defense budget should increase 3.5% to 5% a year.
Thornberry also addressed the newly established Space Force and how the domain of space will impact future fights. He said the new service will serve as a repository for space warfighting experts and will keep specialized personnel “thinking about space,” instead of having them rotate from space operations to other function areas like logistics or air operations.
Although Thornberry stated he believes a Space Force reserve component is “inevitable” and will help retain personnel who already have experience in space operations, he said he did not know if a Space National Guard will be created.
“We’ve got to take advantage of the tremendous expertise people have in this field and one way to do that is through a reserve component,” he said.
Thornberry was first elected to Congress in 1995 and served on both the United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the HASC. Last year, he announced he would not seek re-election.
