The Government Accountability Office has found that the 10-year budget estimates for sustaining and modernizing America’s nuclear weapons submitted in May 2014 by the departments of energy and defense have generally improved from last year, when auditors found significant underestimations. But, the GAO said there are still more opportunities for transparency, and recommended that future joint reports do a better job of documenting the methodology used to make estimates. According to the joint DOD-DOE estimates, it will cost $34.6 billion over the next 10 years to sustain and modernize the nuclear command, control, and communications system, $100.1 billion for the nuclear stockpile and nuclear security enterprise, and $163.4 billion for nuclear delivery systems—a total of nearly $300 billion, up from the estimated $264 billion provided by the DOD and DOE in 2013. The report notes that the Pentagon estimates for nuclear delivery systems increased by about 40 percent from 2013 estimates, partially because of a change in methodology, but that the DOD did not provide enough information about the changes.
B-21 Bomber Shelter May Reveal Size of Secret Jet
March 3, 2021
The Air Force may have inadvertently revealed the size of the secret B-21 bomber with the release of an image of a temporary shelter for the airplane. The service is evaluating several designs for temporary shelters for everyday use and deployment to temporary operating locations. If the B-21 fully fits…