
If existing nuclear forces are not modernized, the U.S. will lose its existing deterrent capabilities in the 2020s and 2030s, the Pentagon’s No. 2 official said Thursday. “The choice that we’re facing quite frankly…is not [between] keeping the existing force or modernizing the force,” Deputy Defense Secretary Bob Work said Thursday during a full House Armed Services Committee hearing on nuclear deterrence policy. “The choice right now is modernizing the force or losing deterrent capability in the 2020s and 2030s. That’s…