posted 12-24-2016 03:29 PM                  

November 15, 2014

The US has announced that an emergency spending programme will be carried out in order to update its ageing nuclear arsenal. Up to $1 trillion (£640bn) will be spent as part of a 30-year plan to upgrade an array of missiles, submarines and bombers.

Speaking at the Pentagon, Chuck Hagel, the US defence secretary declared: "No other mission we have is more important. It deters nuclear attack on the US and our allies and our partners. It prevents our adversaries from trying to escalate their way out of failed conventional aggression."

According to the Associated Press, Hagel told the Pentagon on Friday that the decision to upgrade the US nuclear weapons arsenal came after a series of reviews. He said that the internal and external reviews revealed "a consistent lack of investment and support for our nuclear forces over far too many years has left us with too little margin to cope with mounting stresses".
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/us-begin-1-trillion-upgrade-nuclear-weapons-arsenal-1474990

After pushing for the U.S. to “greatly strengthen and expand” its nuclear capability, President-elect Donald Trump reportedly seemed to welcome an “arms race” in a brief conversation with MSNBC’s Mika Brzezinski Friday morning.

“Let it be an arms race,” he said Friday, according to Brzezinski, co-host of the network’s show Morning Joe.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-reportedly-has-new-comments-on-arms-race/