Skip to main content (Press Enter).
 News
    
        Photos

    Week in Photos

    Air Force TV

    Commentaries

    Features

    Art

    About Us
    
        Air Force Senior Leaders
    
        SECAF

    CSAF

    CMSAF

    Biographies

    Fact Sheets

    SECAF Reading List

    CSAF Leadership Library
    
        CSAF Leadership Library 2022

    CSAF Leadership Library 2021

    CSAF Reading List Pre-2020 Archive
    
        2018 CSAF Reading List

    2017 CSAF Reading List

    2016 CSAF Reading List

    CSAF Leadership Library 2023

    CMSAF Leadership Library

    50 Years of the CMSAF

    Adjunct Professors

    Air Force Strategic Documents

    Arctic Strategy

    Empowered Airmen

    State Licensure Portability

    Careers

    AF Federal Advisory Committees

    AF 75th Anniversary

    Policy Updates

    AF Content Management

    Contact Us

    AF Sites
    
        Site RegistrationU.S. Air Force LogoAir Force

        Policy UpdatesNewsroomReoptimizationBIOGRAPHIESAF Senior Leaders      Air Force Global Strike Command RotatorGen. Anthony Cotton, commander, Air Force Global Strike Command, testified in a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing to members of the Subcommittee on Strategic Forces April 27, 2022. During the meeting focused on the budget posture for nuclear forces, he emphasized to the committee that the strategic security spectrum is rapidly evolving and increasing in complexity across the geopolitical landscape. (U.S. Air Force graphic)
                
                Photo Details /
                        Download Hi-Res

AFGSC commander addresses SASC subcommitteePublished May 2, 2022
                    
                    By Carla Pampe
                    
                    
                    Air Force Global Strike Command Public Affairs
            **BARKSDALE AIR FORCE BASE, La. (AFNS)  --**The **Air Force Global Strike Command** commander, **Gen. Anthony Cotton**, testified in a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing to members of the Subcommittee on Strategic Forces April 27, focused on the budget posture for nuclear forces.
Cotton emphasized to the committee that the strategic security spectrum is rapidly evolving and increasing in complexity across the geopolitical landscape.
“Today’s global environment does not allow for diminished strategic deterrence," Cotton said. “China has modernized at breathtaking speeds, and we expect them to have over 1,000 nuclear warheads by 2030, nested within in a modern triad. Meanwhile, Russia has recapitalized over 80 percent of their nuclear forces and are developing new weapons capabilities as we speak.”
Cotton told the committee members that AFGSC continues to provide safe, secure and reliable deterrence.
“Make no mistake. We are locked in an age of long-term strategic competition, informed now by two nuclear-capable peers, and the advent of non-nuclear strategic weapon systems. Throughout all of this, our strategic deterrence continues to hold as the cornerstone of national security,” Cotton said. “I must always be ready to present credible and viable forces, and for this reason, we maintain constant readiness 24 hours a day. From our missile crews on alert and our bomber crews accomplishing Bomber Task Force missions, we remain ready to hold our nation’s adversaries at bay.”
However, Cotton stressed that modernization is the key to that continued readiness.
“To guarantee continued deterrence into the future, it is imperative that we remain on schedule as we bring new weapons systems online within the triad. I am happy to share that we continue to make tremendous progress across our portfolios.”
Cotton said that AFGSC remains committed to sustaining its bomber and intercontinental ballistic missile forces as the command brings the **LGM-35A Sentinel** and the **B-21 Raider** online within the scheduled timeframe and planned budget for each system.
During the question-and-answer portion, Committee Chairman Senator Angus King (I-Maine) asked the general about the progress on the Sentinel ground-based strategic deterrent project.
“I’m happy to say that GBSD, now known as Sentinel, is in a really, really good place,” Cotton said. “I will say it is a mega-project, so I don’t want to overstate the fact that what we’re talking about is not just the replacement of a missile, we’re talking about the replacement of the entire weapon system, the Minuteman weapon system.”
He told the subcommittee that **F.E. Warren Air Force Base**, Wyoming, which will be the first base to receive the Sentinel, has already started to break ground.
“Everything is on time and on schedule. I’m not concerned with what we’re seeing with the program,” he said.
As questioning continued, Senator Deb Fischer (R-Neb) addressed the recapitalization of the **E4-B** with the Survivable Airborne Operations Center and asked Cotton’s perspective on the importance of **replacing that system**.
“It’s absolutely critical. As you know, the National Airborne Operations Center is an older airframe of which we only have four. I’m happy to say I think we’re in a pretty good place on where we’re going to move forward in regard to SAOC, its replacement,” Cotton said.
Additionally, King asked Cotton about the progress of the B-21 program, the bomber that will eventually replace the B-1 and the B-2 bombers.
“I think it’s a model acquisition program for the department. I’m very satisfied with where we are on the progress of the B-21 program. It is on time and on budget,” the general said.
During the remainder of the hearing, Cotton continued to highlight the importance of modernizing the nuclear portfolio. In his written statement, he concluded by telling the subcommittee that despite the current global environment, the command stands ready to defend the nation.
“AFGSC is the home of nuclear and conventional long-range precision strike for the United States and the free world. We continue to sustain legacy systems while modernizing our force to meet the challenges inherent in an increasingly complex global security environment,” he said. “Our Airmen, the very core of our mission, ensure we provide safe, secure and lethal combat-ready forces to the combatant commanders. It is because of our people, we are always ready to provide long-range conventional or nuclear precision strike anytime, anywhere.”
Cotton commands 33,700 Airmen and civilians responsible for the nation's three intercontinental ballistic missile wings, the Air Force’s entire bomber force, to include B-52, B-1 and B-2 wings, Air Force Nuclear Command, Control and Communications (NC3) systems, and operational and maintenance support to organizations within the nuclear enterprise. The full hearing video can be accessed **here**.LR 



USAF 



AF 



Air Force 



AFGSC 



Air Force Global Strike Command 



SASC Hearing 



Senate Armed Services Committee Strategic Forces Subcommittee 



B-21 Raider 



Sentinel 



MMIII 



ICBM 



Strategic Deterrence 



strategic competition 



One Air Force 



budget 



Gen. Anthony Cotton

Related Links
        Kendall, Brown, Raymond tell Congress $194 billion budget request balances risks, quickens transformation Featured News
        Senior Leader Priorities
                DAF leaders talk budget, reoptimizing the force
                    
                    DAF leaders speak at National Character and Leadership Symposium
                    
                    DAF members recognized during BEYA STEM awards
                    
                    DAF senior enlisted advisors discuss Airmen, Guardians in the fight
                    
                    SecAF Kendall AFA Warfare Symposium Q&A: Reoptimizing for Great Power CompetitionInnovation
                AFWERX director discusses role of tech startups, quick innovation in Great Power Competition
                    
                    DAF delivers lethality at the speed of data during Project Convergence Capstone 4
                    
                    DAF welcomes industry partners to HQ development program
                    
                    DAF announces Spark Tank 2024 finalists
                    
                    Chief Digital, Artificial Intelligence Office to host hackathon in HawaiiMAJCOM News
                Safety enterprise announces new mission, vision, goals in 2024 strategic plan
                    
                    Air Combat Command welcomes new commander
                    
                    USAFE-AFAFRICA commander discusses Integrated Air, Missile Defense during Munich Security Conference
                    
                    Flosi to AFMC family: Embrace change, make every day count
                    
                    AMC rises to increasing global tension
 Quick Links
AccessibilityContact UsEqual OpportunityFOIA | Privacy | Section 508Information QualityInspector GeneralJAG Court-Martial DocketLink DisclaimerNo FEAR ActOpen GovernmentOSI Tip LinePlain LanguageQuestionsResilienceRSSSite MapVeterans Crisis LineCareers
Join the Air ForceAir Force BenefitsAir Force CareersAir Force ReserveAir National GuardCivilian ServiceConnect
            Get Social with Us
            
            Official United States Air Force Website
    Hosted by Defense Media Activity - WEB.mil