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[Text/Observer Network Yan Shanshan] On August 26, local time, the U.S. "Wall Street Journal" website published an article stating that the U.S. nuclear missile arsenal and related infrastructure have become seriously outdated, but the upgrade work has been difficult and repeatedly delayed. The U.S. Department of Defense's estimate has also continued to soar, and the budget for the renovation of about 450 launch silos has risen to $141 billion. The report said that the Pentagon and defense contractors are facing a "nightmare" of renovation projects.

The U.S. military recently revealed that the Sentinel project, which was originally scheduled to start this summer in Kimball, Nebraska, may need to be delayed by five years or more, but will continue to move forward. Colin Connor, a U.S. Air Force brigadier general in charge of the intercontinental missile modernization project, said this month: "There are a lot of unknowns, and I understand the frustration."

However, Mayor Kimball admitted that the delay of the project was a "blessing" for the local area as the pressure on land and infrastructure was greatly reduced, freeing up space to develop economic projects.

In January, The Wall Street Journal cited data from the Congressional Budget Office as saying that the Pentagon plans to spend about $756 billion over the next 10 years to maintain and upgrade its nuclear forces. The report repeated the old tune, hyping that "these long-delayed improvements in the United States have become more urgent due to Russia and China's actions to expand their nuclear arsenals."

The Wall Street Journal pointed out in an article on August 26 that for decades, the U.S. Department of Defense and the White House have claimed that nuclear missiles are vital to U.S. national security and deterrence capabilities. But recently, U.S. military leaders and defense contractors have said that efforts to extend the service life of existing weapons and related facilities have "reached their limits."

The Minuteman missiles, which have been in service since the 1960s in about 450 silos in four Great Plains states, have been in service for more than a decade, and both fiber optic cables and underground command centers need to be updated.

Aging equipment has made maintenance difficult. Air Force officials said that maintenance work that used to take 2-3 hours now takes twice as long, and spare parts are becoming increasingly difficult to obtain. On the other hand, the upgrade of the launch silo has been repeatedly delayed.

The report cited a recent town meeting in Kimball as saying that local renovation projects might not get started for "five years or more."

This small town with a population of less than 3,000 is surrounded by "one of the largest missile launch sites in the world", and the area is in a state of uncertainty as to when thousands of workers will begin work on the project, which was originally scheduled to start this summer.

Pentagon officials said the upgrade of about 450 launch silos and dozens of underground control centers is the largest infrastructure project in the United States since the construction of the interstate highway system in the 1950s and is part of the U.S. military's "Sentinel" program.

The Sentinel ICBM was developed by Northrop Grumman Corporation of the United States and is intended to replace the aging Minuteman III ICBM of the US military. The US side said that this project is the first major upgrade of the land-based part of the US "three-in-one" nuclear force in more than 60 years and is expected to support the country's nuclear deterrence force "until 2075."

Bills soar

According to the Pentagon's latest assessment, upgrading hundreds of missile silos will cost $141 billion, an increase of $34 billion from the cost assessed in January this year.

The Congressional Budget Office also estimates that the Sentinel project will cost at least $1.5 trillion over the next 30 years.

After Boeing withdrew from the contract, Northrop Grumman won the original $13.3 billion Sentinel contract in 2020, but the upgrade of the missile silos has been much more complicated than expected, and some silos may not be refurbished and can only be rebuilt.

Pentagon officials said early cost estimates later proved to be "neither reliable nor realistic," and rising construction costs and raw material prices increased the budget. The Pentagon and its contractors face the daunting challenge of renovating concrete structures, connecting electrical wires and modernizing communications systems, a project that the Wall Street Journal called a "nightmare."

In addition, the project required hundreds of real estate transactions to secure land use rights for underground silos and communications systems.

Pentagon weapons procurement official Bill LaPlante said in July that the scale, scope and complexity of the project are the largest in the United States in more than 60 years, and despite the soaring costs, the Sentinel project will continue to move forward.

Laplante said the Air Force is looking for ways to reduce the complexity of the Sentinel program, but the decision-making process could take up to 18 months, and the latest report on the process could be released early next year.

Critics have questioned the necessity of the Sentinel program. U.S. Democratic Congressman John Garamendi and other members of Congress have questioned whether it is necessary to invest so much money in land-based missiles when missiles and new nuclear warheads carried by submarines and bombers have already played a role in the U.S. nuclear deterrence.

The Wall Street Journal mentioned in January this year that in addition to the ICBM upgrade plan, the Pentagon also plans to form a new Columbia-class missile nuclear submarine fleet and upgrade nuclear warheads and communication systems. This plan is also facing delays. In addition, the Pentagon has begun building the long-range bomber B-21, which made its first flight in November last year and is estimated to cost $700 million each.

The local government breathed a sigh of relief when they heard the delay

The Wall Street Journal said that the slow progress of the Sentinel project has been a relief for the affected towns, which were prepared to deal with the chaos that construction work might cause.

Kimball Mayor John Morrison said, "It's a blessing for us that the U.S. Air Force backed off." Morrison supports the Sentinel project, but he said the impact of the project on the local economy should be taken into consideration.

The delay of this project has relieved a lot of pressure on local real estate and infrastructure, and a waste disposal company immediately decided to expand its scale, which will create 250 new jobs in Kimball.

The Air Force and Northrop Grumman have held public meetings in towns where missile silos are located over the past two years, with the next wave of community meetings expected early next year.

This article is an exclusive article of Observer.com and may not be reproduced without authorization.