Those 50 ICBMs pulled from silos once operated by the now-inactivated 564th Missile Squadron at Malmstrom AFB, Mont., probably will serve as test vehicles to help extend the life of remaining Minuteman III missiles, Air Force Gen. Kevin Chilton told reporters last week at Malmstrom. Although he said he’s not a prognosticator, the commander of US Strategic Command declared, “I know that we need all the remaining 450 ICBMs,” according to a report in the Great Falls Tribune. There has been talk of further cuts to the land-based nuclear missile force. Chilton cautioned that the intent to destroy us may have vanished with the end of the Cold War, but “a nation’s intent can change overnight, which highlights the need for us to be ready all the time.”
While U.S. defense officials have spent much of the past decade warning that China is the nation’s pacing threat and its People’s Liberation Army represents an urgent threat in the Indo-Pacific, several defense researchers are skeptical that the PLA has the human capital, the structural ability, or the political appetite…