The person most responsible for reviving the missile defense program in the face of the Cold War policy of mutually assured destruction, President Ronald Reagan, would have celebrated his 102nd birthday today. President Reagan would marvel at all the accomplishments of the missile defense program since the U.S. withdrew from …
Former Senator Chuck Hagel’s (R–NE) responses regarding his stance on the future of the U.S. nuclear deterrent were misleading. Hagel stated during his confirmation hearing yesterday that his position has never been “unilateral disarmament ever, never.” He said that he doesn’t agree with “any recommendation that would unilaterally take any …
Recently, Time magazine covered the aging status of the U.S. Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). The article shone a spotlight on the problem of the deteriorating U.S. nuclear deterrent. The United States is the only nuclear power that does not have a nuclear modernization program. The U.S. approach to …
What do welfare reform and missile defense have in common? Both were gutted under the Obama Administration, says Senator Jim DeMint, who will become Heritage’s president in April. Senator DeMint is correct. President Obama has drastically decreased the funding for the missile defense program since he took office and cut …
The State Department’s Bureau of Arms Control, Verification and Compliance recently published a fact sheet on “U.S. Nuclear Security Enterprise Infrastructure Modernization.” The name is true to the notion of language twisting outlined in Orwell’s 1984 novel, because the United States is currently engaged in sustainment rather than real nuclear …
“Among the most difficult challenges facing the Air Force is the need to modernize,” writes Michael Donley, the Secretary of the Air Force. Despite major engagements in Afghanistan, Iraq, Kosovo, and Libya since the end of the Cold War, the Air Force currently operates the oldest fleet it has ever …
Last month, The Heritage Foundation compared the Senate and House versions of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) with Heritage’s policy positions on national security and defense. Now that the final version of the NDAA is available, it is possible to analyze which of Heritage’s national security and defense interests …
Recently, the Obama Administration has come under fire for potentially making unilateral cuts to the United States nuclear arsenal. Such unilateral cuts were proposed in the International Security Advisory Board’s (ISAB) November report on “Options for Implementing Additional Nuclear Force Reductions.” Legal arguments aside, there are many problematic assumptions that …
“A single nuclear weapon exploded a hundred miles above the United States could create electromagnetic pulse effects, thereby bringing our entire economy to a standstill,” writes Phyllis Schlafly, a lawyer and conservative political analyst, in her most recent op-ed. An electromagnetic pulse (EMP), a high-intensity burst of electromagnetic energy caused …
This month, Congress will lose one of the foremost champions of freedom and a strong national defense: Senator Jon Kyl (R–AZ). Senator Kyl has served three terms in the U.S. Senate after eight years in the U.S. House of Representatives. In his farewell speech, Kyl focused on economics, family values, …
