In addition to policy and procedural changes to the Air Force’s nuclear security posture, the head of USAF’s Blue Ribbon Review into the August 2007 Bent Spear told the Senate Armed Services Committee last week that the Air Force needs to recapitalize the service’s nuclear systems and support equipment. Maj. Gen. Polly Peyer, director of resource integration on the Air Staff, told the panel that the BRR offers specific areas where resources could be applied to enhance nuclear surety. Some of these areas are addressed in the nearly $100 million worth of requests for equipment included in the service’s Fiscal 2009 unfunded requirements list, she said. They include high security locks for ICBM payload transporters, ICBM cryptography upgrades, a new ICBM payload transporter, nuclear storage structures upgrades, nuclear surety test equipment, powered and non-powered munitions trailers, radiation sensors, and remote visual assessment devices. The service also wants to bolster the Fiscal 2009 request for the Common Vertical Lift Support Platform, the next-generation helicopter that will replace the current Vietnam War-era Huey UH-1Ns that protect the nation’s ICBM fields. Peyer said, as the Air Force builds its Fiscal 2010 program objective memorandum, it also will realign funds where appropriate to support the new equipment. (Read No More Bent Spears)
DNI: Cyber Is The Common Weapon Among Top Adversaries
April 17, 2021
The top four U.S. adversaries--China, Russia, Iran and North Korea--are improving their military capabilities but relying increasingly on cyber means to challenge the U.S. and blunt its influence around the world, the intelligence community's annual threat assessment says. The report comes amid military tensions with both China and Russia.