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March 17, 2021

U.K. Lifts Cap on Nuclear Arsenal as U.S. Considers Plan for $100 Billion "Cold War-Era" Missile
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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced his government is lifting
the cap on its nuclear stockpile, increasing the number of Trident
nuclear warheads by over 40%. The move ends three decades of gradual
nuclear disarmament.

Meanwhile, in the U.S., a new report by the Federation of American
Scientists says plans to build a new $100 billion nuclear missile are
being driven by industry lobbying and politicians whose states will
economically benefit from the project, despite objections from military
and civilian leaders around the cost and lack of security relevance for
the "Cold War-era weapon." The cost of building and maintaining the
Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent, or GBSD, which would be built by
Northrop Grumman with help from Lockheed Martin and others, would swell
to $264 billion over the coming decades.


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