Download or read book The Case for Nuclear Modernization written by Lance A. Adsit and published by . This book was released on 2021 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "A unique challenge presents itself to the new Biden administration. Previous administrations had the luxury of procrastinating nuclear force modernization. It was easier to save the money, refurbish the minimum equipment required, and to trust that the nuclear force will continue to function the way it always has. The Biden administration does not have that option. Decades of fiscal neglect and siphoning budget away from the nuclear enterprise has taken its toll. The triad of the cold war has reached the end of its lifespan, and it requires modernization now for the US to remain a nuclear power. Weapons age, lack of replacement components, and modernizing enemy capability will begin to render the triad obsolete by the mid-2020s without continuing modernization. The Biden administration must modernize the nuclear triad or be forced to develop a new deterrence theory based on decreased nuclear capability. The nuclear deterrence theory that the US has used as a strategic foundation for decades requires a modern, effective nuclear triad. The choice to delay or not to modernize the nuclear force will require a new deterrence strategy to compensate for the loss of nuclear capability. This will affect the national defense strategy and the credibility the US has on the world stage with both allies and enemies. This paper will analyze the US nuclear force structure and compare it to the activity of competitors. It will also give an overview of US nuclear modernization efforts, the cost of those efforts compared to the defense budget, and explain why the choice to modernize is time sensitive. Readers will ultimately see that the Biden administration’s only logical option to mitigate risk of existential threats to the US is to modernize the nuclear triad."--Abstract.