Andrew Hunter is not a name that springs to everyone’s lips, even within the Beltway. A former congressional staffer and think-tanker, he became assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, technology and logistics in 2022. This puts him in charge of more than 550 acquisition programs for the Air Force and a budget of $60 billion. Even that sum, however, is dwarfed by an interview he gave to Reuters recently.

Here’s the background: The United States is one of four global powers that maintains a nuclear “triad” — the ability to launch nuclear weapons from land, from the air and at sea. There are intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) in 450 silos scattered across the Mountain West, 14 Ohio-class nuclear submarines, and nuclear bombs in a range of sizes that can be dropped by long-range and strategic bombers. According to the Department of Defense, the triad “credibly deters adversaries, assures allies and partners, achieves U.S. objectives should deterrence fail and hedges against uncertain threats.”

The land-based leg of the triad currently comprises around 400 Minuteman III ICBMs, which have been available round-the-clock since 1959. The system needs major modernization, and Northrop Grumman was awarded a contract in 2019 for the $63 billion, 20-year Ground Based Strategic Deterrent program.

The reason that Assistant Secretary Hunter’s interview made........

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