nuclear-news

Gen. Mark Milley, currently the Army chief of staff, faced little in the way of tough questioning during his Thursday confirmation hearing; several members, including Republican Josh Hawley and Democrats Tim Kaine, Doug Jones and Richard Blumenthal, said in their remarks they intend to vote in support of the nomination.

That easy questioning remained even after Milley voiced support when asked whether it would be “helpful” to place conventionally armed, ground-launched intermediate-range missiles in the Indo-Pacific region to help deter Chinese interests in the region.

Those weapons had previously been banned under the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, which the Trump administration exited earlier this year.

The response was equally calm when Milley called the development of low-yield nuclear weapons “an important capability to have in our arsenal in order to deal with any potential adversaries or contingency operations.” Democrats from both chambers of Congress have raised objections to the creation of those systems, as well as the potential to deploy ground-based cruise missiles. ……

“I think the very No. 1 for me and No. 1 stated for the Department of Defense is the modernization, recapitalization of the nation’s nuclear triad. I think that’s critical. Secondly, I would say, is space. It’s a new domain of military operations. ……..https://www.defensenews.com/2019/07/11/milley-throws-support-behind-nuclear-modernization-space-force/