July 25, 2006 :: Global Security Newswire :: News
On Thursday, July 20, the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee cut funding for the Navy’s Conventional Trident Modification Program, a Bush administration plan to arm Trident-2 ballistic missiles deployed on submarines with conventional, as opposed to nuclear weapons.
Global Security Newswire reports that the committee cut all but $5 million of the $127 million in initial funding for fiscal year 2007. It directed the remaining $5 million to merely fund a National Academy Sciences study, due March 15, 2007, that would analyze the military’s need for such a system, and recommend alternatives. Supporters of the Conventional Trident Modification Program have argued that it would give the U.S. a global strike weapon against elusive targets in the war on terrorism. Opponents have argued that such a weapon could cause Russia, China, or another third party to mistakenly perceive a U.S. nuclear missile attack. In a report accompanying the defense appropriation bills, the Senate Appropriations Committee wrote its belief that “fundamental issues about the use of this weapon must be addressed prior to investing in this effort.” It added: “It is not clear that other potentially less provocative alternatives, such as land and air-based options, have been considered.”
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