https://www.airandspaceforces.com/air-force-ready-to-deploy-more-nukes-once-arms-control-treaty-ends/

Air Force Ready to Deploy More Nukes Once Arms Control Treaty Ends

Gen. Thomas A. Bussiere, Commander, Air Force Global Strike Command,
delivers his keynote address at the AFA Warfare Symposium 2023.
Photo by Aaron Chen/Air & Space Forces Magazine.

June 6, 2025 | By John A. Tirpak and Rachel S. Cohen

Quote:

Modernizing Missiles

As the end of New START draws closer, efforts to deploy a new generation of nuclear weapons face fresh criticism in Washington. Among them is the Sentinel ICBM, which would replace Minuteman III missiles and can also carry multiple warheads.

The Pentagon found last summer that the troubled initiative was over budget by 81 percent, for an estimated cost of nearly $141 billion, and delayed by three years. The Air Force is restructuring the program to avoid future cost overruns that could trigger additional congressional oversight and slowdowns.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle on June 5 pressed Air Force officials to show they’re taking the Sentinel program seriously. The new ICBM is the program that has occupied the most of his time since becoming secretary last month, Air Force Secretary Troy E. Meink said. It’s one of his top three priorities, he said, if not the highest.

“We’re doing everything we can to get it back on track,” he said.