U.S. Strategic Nuclear Forces: Background, Developments, and Issues

Abstract

Even though the United States plans to reduce the number of warheads deployed on its longrange missiles and bombers, consistent with the terms of the New START Treaty, it also plans to develop new delivery systems for deployment over the next 20-30 years. The 113th Congress will continue to review these programs during the annual authorization and appropriations process. During the Cold War, the U.S. nuclear arsenal contained many types of delivery vehicles for nuclear weapons. The longer-range systems, which included long-range missiles based on U.S. territory, long-range missiles based on submarines, and heavy bombers that could threaten Soviet targets from their bases in the United States, are known as strategic nuclear delivery vehicles. At the end of the Cold War, in 1991, the United States deployed more than 10,000 warheads on these delivery vehicles. That number has declined to less than 2,000 warheads today, and is slated to decline to 1,550 warheads by 2018, after the New START Treaty completes implementation. At the present time, the U.S. land-based ballistic missile force (ICBMs) consists of 450 Minuteman III ICBMs, each deployed with one warhead. The fleet will decline to 400 deployed missiles, while retaining all 450 launchers, to meet the terms of the New START Treaty. The Air Force is also modernizing the Minuteman missiles, replacing and upgrading their rocket motors, guidance systems, and other components, so that they can remain in the force through 2030. It is considering what to do to sustain or replace the missiles after 2030. The U.S. ballistic missile submarine fleet currently consists of 14 Trident submarines; each carries 24 Trident II (D-5) missiles. The Navy converted 4 of the original 18 Trident submarines to carry non-nuclear cruise missiles. The remaining submarines currently carry around 1,000 warheads in total; that number will decline as the United States implements the New START Treaty.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Sep 05, 2014
Accession Number
ADA609579

Entities

People

  • Amy F. Woolf

Organizations

  • United States Government Accountability Office

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Ground and Sea Platforms
  • Space
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Arms Control
  • Arms Control Treaties
  • Ballistic Missile Submarines
  • Ballistic Missiles
  • Boats
  • Department Of State
  • Fleet Ballistic Missiles
  • Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles
  • Military Organizations
  • National Security
  • Navy
  • Ohio Class
  • Prompt Global Strike
  • Rocket Engines
  • Rockets
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Missile Defense Systems.
  • Strategic Security Studies