Beginning with the development of the nuclear bomb in 1945, the US has maintained a leadership role in nuclear weapons design. However, since the end of the Cold War, the nuclear weapons complex (NWC) (created to design, manufacture, maintain, test and ultimately dismantle nuclear weapons and their components) has consolidated and been insufficiently maintained. The Undersecretary of Defense for Policy, Douglas Feith, summarized the NWC status in Congressional testimony, "For example, the United States today is the only nuclear weapons state that cannot remanufacture replacements or produce new nuclear weapons." The US must reverse this trend.

More than six decades after Hiroshima and almost two since the end of the Cold War, the US nuclear weapons stockpile is undergoing an extensive and expensive life-extension program to ensure the continued safety, security, and reliability of the legacy weapons well into the future. The current stockpile does not meet post-Cold War national security challenges. Today's challenge is to sustain and modernize the US nuclear weapons infrastructure with minimal risk and cost. Lt Col Ed Vaughan advocates that to mitigate the risks and address the highly uncertain future security environment, the recapitalization of US nuclear weapons should begin immediately.

More than six decades after Hiroshima and almost two since the end of the Cold War, the US nuclear weapons stockpile is undergoing an extensive and expensive life-extension program to ensure the continued safety, security, and reliability of the legacy weapons well into the future. The current stockpile does not meet post-Cold War national security challenges. Today's challenge is to sustain and modernize the US nuclear weapons infrastructure with minimal risk and cost. Lt Col Ed Vaughan advocates that to mitigate the risks and address the highly uncertain future security environment, the recapitalization of US nuclear weapons should begin immediately.