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Provide Effective 21st Century Deterrence
One of the Air Force’s enduring contributions to national defense is maintaining credible and robust strategic
deterrence. The sustainment and improvement of the individual nuclear weapons is critical to the success of this
deterrent stance and warrants continued emphasis. Improvements in the weapons themselves may offer opportunities
for better delivery capability, to include modernized bombers and missiles that will ensure our nuclear mission remains
the bedrock of national security. The infrastructure that enables our nuclear mission is also a national treasure. It must
be recapitalized where necessary and modernized when needed. The nuclear mission must remain the clear priority of
Air Force leaders at all levels.
In the 21st-century, a credible nuclear deterrent is still absolutely necessary,
but not always sufficient. The future deterrence landscape is exceedingly more
difficult. At the very core of any deterrence analysis is the potential adversary’s
perception of the risk versus the reward of a particular action. Recent global
and technological trends have complicated this analysis in several ways. First,
the diffusion of information and technology (nuclear, chemical, biological,
cyber, etc.) has put capabilities with catastrophic consequences into the
hands of many more actors. For many of these actors, the threat of a nuclear
response is not credible, and thus does not enter into their risk/reward calculus.
In addition, many of these potential adversaries are non-state actors. In the
current geopolitical order in which nation states are sovereign, developing a
credible response to these non-state actors that does not have an escalatory
effect is challenging. Another complicating factor is that of attribution – especially in the cyber domain. The fact that
virtually any computing device with access to the Internet is a potential weapon offers the perception of anonymity to
those contemplating acts that can threaten US interests.
Though this is a broad national security challenge, the Air Force is well suited
to significantly contribute to the solution. In the area of attribution, we must
continue to pursue multi-domain ISR capabilities that can not only identify
the weapon – be it kinetic or non-kinetic – but also the perpetrators and their
support networks. Beyond attribution, a robust global ISR capability provides
a situational awareness advantage, allowing US leadership more options in
dealing with, and averting, potential crises. A modern, globally responsive
conventional strike capability complements our nuclear arm and not only
underwrites global deterrence, but assures our allies and partners around the
world. Readiness of these forces enhances credibility as a deterrent, and thus
will continue to be a prominent priority. With these capabilities at the ready, we must also seek to develop a suite of
response options that are as varied as the motivations of the would-be actors. These options will be characterized by
precision and proportionality, and will leverage our capabilities in all three of our Air Force operating domains. Only
when we have the recognized capability to attribute and appropriately respond can we truly change the risk/reward
calculus of the broad range of prospective adversaries and deliver effective deterrence into the future.
One of the most successful deterrence strategies in history was that which ultimately delivered victory in the Cold
War. Arguably, the decisive element was the US commitment to a cost-imposing strategy on the Soviet Union. As we
seek to develop new capabilities for our Air Force, we will pursue the same strategy, but with a slight twist. Instead
of committing vast amounts of national treasure to overwhelm any and all potential adversaries, we will develop
innovative, lower-cost options that demand high-cost responses. If it costs markedly less for us to defeat a missile than
it does for the adversary to build and launch it, the strategic calculus changes significantly.
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