Keeping The Nukes Warm

The Obama administration has chosen a novel way to comply with a 2011 arms control treaty with Russia. The deal calls for the United States to reduce the number of intercontinental ballistic missiles available to launch by 50. The U.S. currently has 450 land based nuclear missiles at three Air Force Bases. The Pentagon will remove 50 of them from their launch silos, but keep the silos open and ready. The missiles would be kept in storage and maintained. The so-called warm condition means the missiles could be returned to active status in a hurry. The warm silos come at a cost. It means steeper reductions in the numbers of submarine-launched nuclear missiles. Those won't be cut until 2018.