Global Security Newswire

U.S. Air Force personnel mount a refurbished nuclear warhead onto a Minuteman 3 ICBM in 1997. An arms control expert has said the Obama administration never directed the Pentagon to consider possibly reducing the number of U.S. launch-ready nuclear weapons to quantities as low as 300 (AP Photo/Eric Draper).

The Obama administration did not request that the U.S. Defense Department examine the potential for slashing the number of U.S. strategic nuclear warheads kept at launch-readiness to as low as 300 weapons, U.S. News and World Report on Tuesday quoted one arms control expert as saying (see GSN, March 27).

"The Pentagon was never asked to look at options for going to 300," said Brookings Institution Arms Control Initiative Director Steven Pifer, relaying information learned in talks with Pentagon officials.

The Associated Press in February first reported that the Pentagon was preparing three proposals for potential new cuts to long-range deployed nuclear weapons that would go significantly beyond the 1,550 warhead limit established by the New START arms control accord with Russia. Unidentified officials told AP options under consideration involved stockpile cuts to approximately 1,000 to 1,100, 700 to 800, or 300 to 400 (see GSN, Feb. 16).

President Obama as of February had not officially received the proposals, National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor said at the time.

The Defense Department has been circumspect in publicly discussing its study of alternatives, though Defense Secretary Leon Panetta recently said any new arsenal cuts would occur only alongside similar stockpile reductions from Russia.

Lexington Institute defense analyst Loren Thompson said partisan realities would probably cause Obama to not pursue new arsenal cuts.

"The Obama administration considered a series of nuclear force postures including some that were very low. However, Obama is already running up against the limits of what Congress will approve," Thompson said (U.S. News and World Report, April 3).