The Air Force has decided that it will take a planned reduction of 50 of its 500 Minuteman missiles from Malmstrom AFB, Mont., reports the Great Falls Tribune. Since the Quadrennial Defense Review revealed Pentagon plans to downsize the Minuteman force, Malmstrom’s 564th Missile Squadron has been considered the likely candidate because it operates a unique missile system, requiring different training and support from Air Force Space Command’s other missile units. Last year, Congress declared that USAF must justify the reduction, and, according to the Tribune, the Air Force turned over its classified report last month, with a response period that ends April 15. The Air Force told the Great Falls newspaper that it would not begin removing the ICBMs before May 23.
The defense intelligence community has tried three times in the past decade to build a “common intelligence picture”—a single data stream providing the information that commanders need to make decisions about the battlefield. The first two attempts failed. But officials say things are different today.