Lets make fun of Obama while he is still relevant.

[Bob Butler 54]

(11-29-2016, 11:52 AM)X_4AD_84 Wrote: Next gen land based ICBM will probably be a TEL served system similar to more recent Russian ones. Silos are so 20th century.

Another intriguing notion is air launched ICBMs. Demoed by crews at Vandenberg AFB. The ICBM is carried aloft in a C17's cargo bay. The bay gets opened and a drogue deployed. The drogue pulls the ICBM out of the bay and orients it into launch position. A few seconds after being drogued out and positioned, with the plane now clear, engines are ignited and the drogue jettisoned. Missile launches.

I'm thinking mutual assured destruction is so 20th Century. It's hard to make land based stuff survivable, though TEL or air launch would definitely help.

Do we need to spend a lot of money on making the land based stuff survivable when the submarines are still good? The Minuteman family is almost as old as the B 52, and might still be as capable of doing the job. While maintaining some degree of MADness might make some sort of Dr Strangelove sense, the hot wars have involved insurgencies and low tech opponents that often hide among the population. While totally abandoning MAD may not be prudent, there are other priorities.