Pentagon to Revise Nuclear Guidance

摘要

Implementing a key recommendation from the April 2010 "Nuclear Posture Review [NPR] Report," the Obama ad ministration announced in May that it has started the pro cess of revising guidance issued by the Bush administration for nuclear weapons operations and deterrence policy. In May 4 testimony before the Senate Armed Services Com mittee, Principal Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Policy James Miller said that the review will assess "deterrence require ments, including analyzing potential changes in targeting requirements and force postures." Miller said the review would inform the administration's goals for future nuclear reductions below the levels of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START). According to senior administration officials, the Pentagon review will provide options to President Barack Obama by late summer or early fall, but final decisions may not be public until the United States reaches agreements with Russia for comparable policy changes. The Obama administration has been operating under a 2008 guidance document. After Obama's inauguration, administration officials determined they did not need to revise the Bush guid ance in advance of the negotiation of New START, as the treaty's modest reductions in weapons levels to 1,550 deployed strategic warheads and 700 deployed delivery vehicles were consistent with existing plans. The 2010 NPR report, however, found that an "updated assessment of deterrent requirements" would be needed for reductions below New START levels.