| Loren B. Thompson is a Senior Adviser at GPI, Chief Operating Officer of the non-profit Lexington Institute and Chief Executive Officer of Source Associates, a for-profit consultancy. Prior to holding his present positions, he was Deputy Director of the Security Studies Program at Georgetown University and taught graduate-level courses in strategy, technology and media affairs at Georgetown. He has also taught at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. Mr. Thompson holds doctoral and masters degrees in government from Georgetown University and a bachelor of science degree in political science from Northeastern |
Issue Briefs
House Strategic Forces Panel Warns Plan For Airborne Control Of Nuclear Weapons In Wartime Is Lagging (From Forbes
Loren B. Thompson
June 16, 2022
The Strategic Forces Subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee is warning that Air Force plans to replace aging E-4B Nightwatch command-post aircraft are lagging. The four modified 747s would be used to command and control U.S. nuclear weapons in a war. In fact, they might be one of the few parts of the command-and-control system that survives the opening salvoes of an East-West war. Without them, it could prove impossible for the nation’s top leaders to retaliate against nuclear aggression in a coherent way. So the planes are crucial to the U.S. deterrent posture. But they aren’t the only component of the nuclear command-and-control system where Air Force plans seem to be lagging. I have written a commentary for Forbes here.
The views and opinions expressed in this issue brief are those of the author.
 |
|