Ken Calvert: “This amendment would prohibit the use of 2020 funds for development of a long-range standoff weapon program. A…”

“This amendment would prohibit the use of 2020 funds for development of a long-range standoff weapon program. A long-range standoff missile will be a nuclear-armed air-launched cruise missile that the U.S. Air Force is scheduled to first deploy in the early 2030s. The LRSO is necessary for maintaining the deterrent capability currently provided by a rapidly aging air-launched cruise missile. According to the Department of Defense, the current air-launched cruise missile is already decades beyond its originally planned service time. As General John Hayden, Commander of the U.S. Strategic Command, has stated: ``The ALCM is encountering sustainability and viability issues from age-related material failures . . . and diminishing manufacturing sources. Parts and materials designed for a 10-year service life are now 35 years old and are obsolete.'' In addition to severe problems with maintenance and reliability, the ALCM has a significant degraded ability to survive modern air defense systems. We also need the long-range standoff weapon because conventional air-launched cruise missiles are unable to effectively meet the same deterrence requirements. Madam Chair, sustaining the nuclear standoff capability in the air leg of the U.S. strategic triad strengthens our deterrence. Conventional weapons are not capable of fulfilling the nuclear-armed cruise missile's contribution to, and role in, an effective deterrence and reassurance of U.S. allies.…”