A static display of intercontinental ballistic missiles at the F.E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyo., front gate the evening of April 4, 2012. From left are the Peacekeeper, the Minuteman III and the Minuteman I. The planet Venus is visible in the sky above the Minuteman missiles and Jupiter is visible to the left of the Minuteman I. (U.S. Air Force photo by R.J. Oriez)
Bloomberg: America's New Nuclear-Armed Missile Could Cost $85 Billion
* Pentagon estimate rises from preliminary Air Force projection
* Acquisition chief warns of ‘significant uncertainty’ on cost
The U.S. Air Force’s program to develop and field a new intercontinental ballistic missile to replace the aging Minuteman III in the nuclear arsenal is now projected to cost at least $85 billion, about 36 percent more than a preliminary estimate by the service.
Even the $85 billion calculated by the Pentagon’s Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation office is a placeholder number that’s at the low end of potential costs, according to an Aug. 23 memo from Pentagon weapons buyer Frank Kendall to Air Force Secretary Deborah James. It includes $22.6 billion for research and development, $61.5 billion for procurement and $718 million for related military construction.
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WNU Editor: This is just the cost for replacing the Minuteman III missile .... and it will probably increase with time. This $85 billion number also does not include modernising the entire U.S. nuclear force .... a number that which will be in the hundreds of billions (if not more).
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