LGM-35A Sentinel - Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD) program

[NMaude]

The nuclear triad is probably unaffordable given the twin problems of the deficit and need to cut costs

Oh, it's easily affordable, the US federal government just needs to repeal the the grossly unwarranted and undeserved tax-cuts the super-rich and the mega-corporations got along with taxing them like they were 45 years ago, in other words pay their fair share.

 

[Kat Tsun]

Oh, it's easily affordable, the US federal government just needs to repeal the the grossly unwarranted and undeserved tax-cuts the super-rich and the mega-corporations got along with taxing them like they were 45 years ago, in other words pay their fair share.

They would just move to the Switzerland, Panama, whatever, and take their wealth with them lol. There is no practical way to fund LGM-35A at present, because DOD is in the middle of a budget cut, and Sentinel still needs new silos. Maybe they can put it on a big truck but getting something like Midgetman would be easier at this point.

 

[Kat Tsun]

The easiest method to destroy any orbital weapons platform would be an interceptor satellite of any stripe sharing the same orbit yes. This is already a combat risk for MEO GNSS, GEO SATCOM, and to a lesser extent LEO swarming platforms. Sheer mass of systems and redundancy is partly why Starlink and Starshield will be likely be highly resilient in wartime.

That's why, like a hypersonic bomber or silo-based missile, they're almost entirely a first strike weapon. Given the amount of orbital shenanigans the USSF and PLA Strategic Support Force have been having for the past half decade they'd both probably just base each warhead individually on a reentry bus, and bet you can punch through a defense grid with sheer mass, like a high frontier bomber stream.

 

[Desertfox]

America, however, are the only ones not refurbishing their silos on a periodic schedule. The last major deep modernization was REACT and AFAIK the MM3s still use 5.25" floppies for targeting upload. The US has the oldest and least functional launch infrastructure in the world, at present, and I suppose they would be tied with France if France had retained the S3s.

The nuclear triad is probably unaffordable given the twin problems of the deficit and need to cut costs, so the MM3s will likely be LEPed until the '50s, and be the first ICBM to see 100 years of continuous service. That or retired without replacement to feed B-21 and Columbia. New silos seems rather distant given Sentinel has already breached Nunn-McCurdy twice now.

A Midgetman 2 TEL, no need to be hard, and based in the missile fields followed by implosion of the silos would be the best case.

USAF never liked the strategic missile or space observation missions anyway. It's why USSF has had to crash budget for replacement of PAVE PAWS old mainframes and is trying to expedite like four new space based sensor platforms. Taking away their ICBMs so they can focus entirely on the strategic bomber mission would make them happy. Space Force can have them.

The floppies (8" ones) are gone as of 2018.

The land-based part of the triad is actually the cheapest one with the lowest operating costs. its just the USAF just hates to operate it and would rather spend nothing. TELs, even plain non-hardened ones have much higher operating costs.

 

[In_A_Dream]

The floppies (8" ones) are gone as of 2018.

The land-based part of the triad is actually the cheapest one with the lowest operating costs. its just the USAF just hates to operate it and would rather spend nothing. TELs, even plain non-hardened ones have much higher operating costs.

What's the fixed cost of a silo vs a TEL?