Missouri Congressman Mark Alford said he is determined to work toward strengthening America's military defenses against a growing Chinese threat, including bolstering the nuclear triad partly located in his district.
"The U.S. needs to wake up to the growing reality that China is outpacing us militarily. We cannot afford to fall behind China during this pivotal time and must accelerate our key nuclear capabilities to effectively deter our adversaries," said Alford, a Republican representing the state's 4th District. "A significant portion of the nuclear triad is based in my district in the nuclear capable B-2 stealth bomber at Whiteman Air Force Base. I’m committed to working with my colleagues on House Armed Services to ensure we can bolster our nuclear platforms and weapons to meet the threats from China.”
According to a memo sent last October by the Defense Department's Strategic Command to the Senate Armed Services Committee, "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."
Congress is debating how to combat both Russia and China's growing nuclear arsenals, the Wall Street Journal reported, while at the same time, U.S. forces were forced to shoot down an alleged Chinese spy balloon that traversed across the U.S. mainland. China's ICBM launchers still contain many empty silos, and America has a significant advantage in number of submarine missiles and longe-range bombers, the Journal reported.
“China is rapidly approaching parity with the United States,” Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL), chair of the Armed Services Committee, told the Journal. “We cannot allow that to happen. The time for us to adjust our force posture and increase capabilities to meet this threat is now.”
As the U.S. works to modernize its nuclear forces, Congress will have the option to add more warheads to missiles and bombers to address areas where China has gained ground.
However, Patty-Jane Geller, a senior policy analyst at the Center for National Defense at the Heritage Foundation, said the U.S. nuclear force is not modernizing fast enough to outpace China. The U.S. has 450 missile silos in the Midwest, fewer than in China, and while the Pentagon said that the launchers don't all have long-range missiles fitted to them, Geller said this would be the "next logical step."
Geller wrote 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 technologies such as a "fractional orbital bombardment system," which circles the globe before launching a missile. Former commander of U.S. Strategic Command, Adm. Charles Richard, said bluntly, “as I assess our level of deterrence against China, the ship is slowly sinking.”
Geller wrote that the recent spy balloon incident adds fuel to the sentiment that the U.S. is "woefully unprepared." The American nuclear force was designed to deter Russia, and Geller said times have changed since it was developed several years ago. Geller added the U.S. must grow its nuclear arsenal and improve the 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," Geller wrote.
