Sequestration would have a “dangerous” effect on the U.S. Strategic Command and its ability to defend the country, STRATCOM Commander Adm. Cecil Haney and members of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) agreed in the fiscal year 2015 posture hearing for STRATCOM and U.S. Cyber Command on Thursday.

SASC Ranking Member Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) rattled off a list of major modernization efforts affecting STRATCOM, most of which have already experienced some delay. The Ohio-class replacement ballistic missile submarine has faced a two-year delay, the B-61 bomber life extension program has been delayed two and a half years, there is no decision yet on how to address the aging ICBMs, plutonium and uranium processing plants have both been delayed by four years, and so on.

U.S. Strategic Command (STRATCOM) chief Navy Adm. Cecil Haney. Photo: Navy.
U.S. Strategic Command (STRATCOM) chief Navy Adm. Cecil Haney. Photo: Navy.

Haney said each of the three legs of the nuclear deterrent needs at least one modernization effort, and with some there is no room for further delay.

“As I look at the modernization programs that are either in progress or going forward, clearly we have delayed the Ohio-replacement program to the point where we can ill afford to delay it any further,” Haney said. “Right now those platforms are going to be the longest serving submarines—the Ohio-class today, getting up to 42 years of service out of them under the current plan.”

Inhofe then displayed a chart showing historical and expected funding levels for strategic forces from 1962 through 2050. Until 2010, funding had been stable and much lower than previous funding levels. Beginning in 2010, several recapitalization projects began, including the Ohio-replacement subs, a new ICBM, a new cruise missile, a new submarine-launched ballistic missile and a new National Airborne Operations Center.

Despite the many projects that make for a bump in STRATCOM spending, Inhofe said all the programs combined “would only cost…5 percent of the defense spending [in that time period] , so I see this as affordable.”

Haney replied that “to not continue with the modernization of the triad is not an option” and that it was “a significant investment, but a necessary investment going forward.”
Later in the hearing, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C) asked Haney about the effect of full sequestration, which is currently the law beginning in fiscal year 2016 despite a Defense Department budget request that assumes higher levels of spending.

“If sequestration is fully implemented, it will have a potentially disastrous impact,” Haney said, noting it could force DoD to choose between highly important modernization efforts instead of funding them all in full, leading to delays and gaps in capability.