U.S. Rep. Scott DesJarlais (R-Tenn.) has vowed to fight to ensure the U.S. military has proper funding after a congressional memo revealed China has surpassed the United States in the number of long-range missile launchers.
The memo from the U.S. Strategic Command pointed out that as of October 2022, "the number of land-based fixed missiles and mobile ICBM [intercontinental ballistic missiles] launchers in China has exceeded the number of ICBM launchers in the United States."
“This highlights the need for America to continue our own investments in modernizing the U.S. nuclear triad and our assets in the Pacific," DesJarlais said. "I am committed to fighting for the necessary funding to make sure our military has the adequate culpabilities for readiness and deterrence.”
According to Patty-Jane Geller, the Heritage Foundation's senior policy analyst for nuclear deterrence and missile defense, the U.S. nuclear force is not developing and modernizing fast enough to outpace China.
Geller noted that China has more missile silos than the 450 in the Midwest. The Pentagon stated China's launchers do not all have long-range missiles fitted to them, but Geller says this would be the "next logical step."
Geller continued that China is "cranking out nuclear warheads, has completed a nuclear triad of land, air, and sea nuclear capabilities with the deployment of a strategic bomber; and is improving its arsenal of regional nuclear missiles that can reach the U.S. island of Guam."
China has also tested certain technologies including systems that can go around the world before launching a missile. Geller pointed to, Admiral Charles Richard, a former U.S. Strategic Command commander, who said, “as I assess our level of deterrence against China, the ship is slowly sinking.”
Geller stressed that the recent spy balloon over U.S. territory only adds to the sentiment that America is "woefully unprepared." The U.S. nuclear force structure was designed to deter Russia, and Geller says times have significantly changed since it was developed 10 years ago.
Geller suggests that the U.S. adds to its nuclear arsenal and improves its current defense systems.
"Given that nuclear weapons pose the only existential threat to the U.S. and that nuclear deterrence remains our top national security priority, America must be prepared to meet the challenge," she concluded.
