Maintaining a nuclear presence in Europe is essential for the NATO alliance, said Mark Gunzinger, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. “Our posture in Europe is critical to coherence of the alliance [and] is a tangible sign of our commitment to the alliance,” he said during Tuesday’s panel on extended deterrence at AFA’s Air & Space Conference in National Harbor, Md. Currently, the United States has a forward presence in Europe of tactical nukes and dual-role fighters capable of delivering them. Gunzinger said it’s “questionable at best” if relying on US strategic nukes based stateside would have the same deterrent effect for Europe. Further, it would be “very difficult” to regenerate that capability if it was withdrawn from Europe, he asserted. He also said the United States “might want to think about adopting the European model” of extended deterrence “to the Pacific.”
The Air Force and Boeing agreed to a nearly $2.4 billion contract for a new lot of KC-46 aerial tankers on Nov. 21. The deal, announced by the Pentagon, is for 15 new aircraft in Lot 11 at a cost of $2.389 billion—some $159 million per tail.