Military Leaders Protest Unnecessary Spending

On the radar: Generals don’t want added BMD; Panetta objects to HASC bill; Manned or unmanned; Intercept on Youtube; Nukes back to Korea; HASC gone wild; the Case against the East Coast shield; and the Adventures of Kim Jong Un.

May 11, 2012 | Edited by Benjamin Loehrke and Mary Kaszynski

Military leaders on missile defense budgets - “In my military judgment, the program of record for ballistic missile defense for the homeland, as we've submitted it, is adequate and sufficient to the task...So I don't see a need beyond what we've submitted in the last budget,” said Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, about the proposed east coast missile defense site.

--“Today’s threats do not require an East Coast missile field and we do not have plans to do so,” said U.S. Northern Command Commander Gen. Charles Jacoby. Jeremy Herb at Defcon Hill has the story. http://owl.li/aQF52

Panetta objects to excess spending - “If we're prevented from retiring aging ships and aircraft that no longer fit strategic requirements, then Congress would be forcing us to have to look elsewhere for these savings...burdening the services with excess force structure,” Defense Secretary Panetta said in a press briefing yesterday.

--“When Congress restores funds to protect particular constituencies that may not be critical to our national defense capabilities...it could harm our ability to pursue the high-priority investments that we think are essential to the force that we need for the 21st century.” http://owl.li/aQFh7

Tweet - @miasteinle: Rep. Turner's Never-Say-Die Effort to Squander Taxpayer Money on Nuclear Boondoggles #13NDAA http://owl.li/aQF6R

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Shedding the unmanned option - To suppress costs of its new long range bomber, the Air Force is considering dropping its requirement for the bomber to be optionally unmanned. Elaine Grossman at Global Security Newswire has the story.

--Dropping the drone option might not be a bad thing. Said Hans Kristensen, “There are just too many missions for which it would be inconceivable to kick the pilot out of the cockpit, nuclear delivery being one of them.” http://owl.li/aQF8P

Slow-mo SM-3 launch - When the Missile Defense Agency did a test intercept with its SM-3 Block IB, it made sure to take a slow motion video and post it on Youtube. Danger Room has the video and story. http://owl.li/aQFbF

--For added effect, EW editors recommend watching the video with the Benny Hill theme song playing in the background. http://owl.li/aQFdC

Tac nukes back to Korea? - The House Armed Services Committee adopted an amendment to its defense bill that would require the Secretaries of State and Defense to consider deploying tactical nuclear weapons in South Korea. Josh Rogin at The Cable has the story. http://owl.li/aQFeZ

--Background: President George H. W. Bush unilaterally ordered all nuclear weapons out of South Korea in 1991. The TLAM-N sea-launched cruise missile, the only nonstrategic nuclear weapon deployed in East Asia in recent years, is currently being retired by the Navy.

Tweet - @McFaul: Ambassador Pifer on missile defense. Without endorsing anything in this paper, I can say he's always worth reading: http://owl.li/aQFiy

NDAA wrap-up - In a markup even more extreme than last year’s, the HASC has proposed constraining New START implementation and preventing the president and the Pentagon from making changes to U.S. nuclear posture.

--HASC also increased spending on nuclear programs that the Pentagon doesn’t want, blowing through the budget caps that Congress agreed to last year. Kingston Reif has the details on the HASC bill and nuclear amendment. http://owl.li/aQFmx

BMD flaws - HASC members who authorized the East Coast missile defense system are “cherry-picking” a forthcoming National Research Council report to justify their position. ACA’s Tom Collina has three reasons why the system won’t work:

--1) The NRC report says the West Coast GMD system isn’t working and needs to be replaced, making HASC’s 2015 deadline for the East Coast shield unrealistic. 2) “The proposed East Coast site is an alternative to EPAA Phase IV; we do not need both.” 3) Like all mid-course intercept plans, the proposed shield would be vulnerable to decoys and other countermeasures. http://owl.li/aQFot

Kim cartoon - The spoofing of the Kims continues with the new web video, “The Adventures of Kim Jong Un.” Written, directed, and produced by Kim Jong Un. Special cameo from Bruce Willis. http://owl.li/aQFqv