Congressional Republicans are pushing back against the president’s plan to retire an aging nuclear weapon, decrying the effort during a series of hearings this week dedicated to the administration’s fiscal 2023 budget request for nuclear forces and atomic energy.
The hearings previewed what is likely to be a renewed debate over retiring the B83 megaton gravity bomb as Congress drafts the annual defense authorization bill, starting in June. The Air Force also plans to retire the only aircraft capable of carrying the B83, the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber, by 2032 at the latest.
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“The rationale of this administration to retire the B83 gravity bomb without a replacement capability is not clear to me,” Rep. Doug Lamborn, R-Colo., the ranking member of the House Strategic Forces Subcommittee, said at a Tuesday hearing. “In fact, it is my understanding that not only is there no replacement capability, but the process to identify candidates for a replacement capability has not even yet started.”
Read more: Defense News
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