The Pentagon has reassessed the cost of deploying new nuclear-powered intercontinental missiles. Replacing the Minuteman III ballistic missiles in service for more than 50 years will cost $ 95.8 billion, the Associated Press reports.
A previous estimate, released four years ago, was more optimistic: it would have cost about $ 10 billion more to replace missiles.
For several years now, the US military has been discussing the parameters of a future program to replace ICBMs, which should become part of a package of measures to modernize all three components of the US nuclear triad with a total cost of a trillion dollars and a period of 30 years. The Air Force's first preliminary estimate for a Minuteman III replacement project in 2015 was $ 62.3 billion.
In general, the program for the complete renovation of the American nuclear forces, planned for the coming decades, will cost the US budget $ 1.2 trillion.
