House Strategic Forces Panel Warns Plan For Airborne Control Of Nuclear Weapons In Wartime Is Lagging (From Forbes)

The Strategic Forces Subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee is warning that Air Force plans to replace aging E-4B Nightwatch command-post aircraft are lagging. The four modified 747s would be used to command and control U.S. nuclear weapons in a war. In fact, they might be one of the few parts of the command-and-control system that survives the opening salvoes of an East-West war. Without them, it could prove impossible for the nation’s top leaders to retaliate against nuclear aggression in a coherent way. So the planes are crucial to the U.S. deterrent posture. But they aren’t the only component of the nuclear command-and-control system where Air Force plans seem to be lagging. I have written a commentary for Forbes here.