National Security and Nuclear Weapons in the 21st Century

Abstract

In July 2007, along with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, we issued a statement that summarized the need for maintaining a credible U.S. nuclear deterrent and urged bipartisan Congressional support for the Reliable Replacement Warhead program. This paper, National Security and Nuclear Weapons in the 21st Century, expands on the July 2007 statement by addressing in greater detail the considerations behind U.S. requirements for nuclear weapons. The paper also describes the relationship among strategic nuclear force structure, the stockpile of nuclear warheads, and the nuclear warhead research and production infrastructure. We believe the logic presented here provides a sound basis on which this and future administrations can consider further adjustments to U.S. nuclear weapons policy, strategy, and force structure.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Sep 01, 2008
Accession Number
ADA487443

Entities

Organizations

  • United States Department of Defense

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Counter WMD
  • Cyber
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Ground and Sea Platforms
  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Anti-Ballistic Missiles
  • Ballistic Missile Submarines
  • Ballistic Missiles
  • Cruise Missiles
  • Fleet Ballistic Missiles
  • Guided Bombs
  • Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles
  • Intermediate Range Ballistic Missiles
  • National Security
  • Nuclear Warheads
  • Nuclear Weapons
  • Security
  • Strategic Weapons
  • Submarine Launched Ballistic Missiles
  • Terrorists
  • Weapons
  • Weapons Of Mass Destruction

Readers

  • Nuclear Non-Proliferation and International Security
  • Strategic Security Studies