Deterrence and the U.S. Nuclear Weapons Infrastructure

This latest addition to the Arms Control and International Security paper series – prepared by Under Secretary of Energy and National Nuclear Security Administration Administrator, Lisa Gordon-Hagerty and with an introduction by Assistant Secretary Ford – offers a perspective upon the United States’ nuclear deterrent needs and what NNSA is doing to meet them.

U.S. officials and policy elites have often debated exactly how many and what sort of nuclear weapons and delivery systems are needed, but our defense planners have long understood the importance of maintaining a robust nuclear force in order to deter aggression against us or our allies. During the many decades that this has been a key point of emphasis in the U.S. strategy, it has also been a commonplace understanding that such deterrence hinges upon possession of actual weapons.