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US to Spend $1.2 Trillion to Modernize, Maintain Nuclear Forces

© AP Photo / Dave CaulkinMarch 3, 2002 file photo shows a member of the public watching a US Air Force B 52 bomber arriving at RAF Fairford in western England. Pushing his vision of a nuclear weapons-free world, President Barack Obama returned to Prague on Thursday, April 8, 2010 to sign a pivotal treaty aimed at sharply paring U.S. and Russian arsenals — and repairing soured relations between the nations. With that, they will commit their nations to slash the number of strategic nuclear warheads by one-third and more than halve the number of missiles, submarines and bombers carrying them, pending ratification by their legislatures. The new treaty will shrink those warheads to 1,550 over seven years. That still allows for mutual destruction several times over. But it will send a strong signal that Russia and the U.S., which between them own more than 90 percent of the world's nuclear weapons, are serious about disarmament.
March 3, 2002 file photo shows a member of the public watching a US Air Force B 52 bomber arriving at RAF Fairford in western England. Pushing his vision of a nuclear weapons-free world, President Barack Obama returned to Prague on Thursday, April 8, 2010 to sign a pivotal treaty aimed at sharply paring U.S. and Russian arsenals — and repairing soured relations between the nations. With that, they will commit their nations to slash the number of strategic nuclear warheads by one-third and more than halve the number of missiles, submarines and bombers carrying them, pending ratification by their legislatures. The new treaty will shrink those warheads to 1,550 over seven years. That still allows for mutual destruction several times over. But it will send a strong signal that Russia and the U.S., which between them own more than 90 percent of the world's nuclear weapons, are serious about disarmament. - Sputnik International
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The United States will need to spend more than $1.2 trillion over the next 30 years to follow through with plans to modernize and manage its nuclear deterrent, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) said in an estimate released on Monday.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Other expenses include operational costs for command, control and early warning systems, as well as maintaining a network of US national nuclear laboratories, the release explained.

"The Obama Administration’s 2017 plans for nuclear forces would cost about $1.2 trillion (in 2017 dollars) over the 2017–2046 period," CBO said. "About $400 billion of that total would pay for modernization."

A nuclear explosion in Mururoa atoll. File photo - Sputnik International
US Nuclear Build-Up is Irresponsible Move in Wrong Direction – Analyst
The CBO analysis also included a number of options for reducing costs, such as delaying some modernization programs and reducing the number of US nuclear warheads.

In August, the US Air Force announced new contracts totaling nearly $2.5 billion to develop a nuclear-tipped long range stealth cruise missile and a project to replace intercontinental ballistic missiles in silos throughout the United States, according to media reports.

Plans for nuclear modernization that were first developed during the Obama administration have been embraced by incumbent President Donald Trump.

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