The surprise savings could have been refunded to the Treasury, or rerouted to some other military program—say, to fund more munitions for Ukraine, which the Defense Department has halted, supposedly because of shortages in our own stockpiles, or (here’s a novel idea) to fill some of the gaps caused by the Trump budget’s drastic cuts in domestic programs. This past January, the Sentinel was declared in “critical breach.” This led to the formal review, which spurred the program’s restructuring, which resulted in the excess of funds in the current year’s account. True, the 450 Minuteman missiles have been in the ground for half a century, but they—along with the warheads, the guidance system, the launch-control center, and all of the other components—have been modified several times, to the point where it’s barely the same weapon system.
Author: Fred Kaplan
Published at: 2025-07-02 20:41:01
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