U.S. Nuclear Weapons Upgrade to See Delay on Old Silos, Tech
- Replacing aging Minuteman III missiles complicated, GAO says
- Total program cost forecast to hit $1.2 trillion over decades
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Upgrading America’s nuclear missile arsenal will likely take longer than expected because of the complexities of pulling 1970s-era ICBMs out of aging silos and testing and installing replacement missiles and technology to run the system for decades to come, according to a congressional audit.
The Air Force faces the complicated challenge of removing a total of about 400 Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles and their command-and-control electronics at the rate of about 50 per year from silos and support buildings in various states of deterioration, some with water damage, the Government Accountability Office said in a report Thursday.