HEADLINE: Sentinel ICBM Modernization is Critical and Cost-Effective Deterrent Against Great Power CompetitionGUEST NAME: Peter Huessy SUMMARY: John Batchelor speaks with Peter Huessy about the Sentinel program replacing aging 55-year-old Minuteman ICBMs,

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John Batchelor

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🗓️ 9 October 2025

⏱️ 9 minutes

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Summary

HEADLINE: Sentinel ICBM Modernization is Critical and Cost-Effective Deterrent Against Great Power CompetitionGUEST NAME: Peter Huessy SUMMARY: John Batchelor speaks with Peter Huessy about the Sentinel program replacing aging 55-year-old Minuteman ICBMs, aiming for lower operating costs and improved capabilities. Cost overruns stem from necessary infrastructure upgrades, including replacing thousands of miles of digital command and control cabling and building new silos. Maintaining the ICBM deterrent is financially and strategically crucial, saving hundreds of billions compared to relying solely on submarines. The need for modernization reflects the end of the post-Cold War "holiday from history," requiring rebuilding against threats from China and Russia.

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0:00.0	This is CBSI on the world.
0:05.8	I'm John Batchelor.
0:07.2	Gordon Chang at Gordon-Gee-Chang, my colleague and co-host,
0:10.0	and we're very pleased to welcome our eyes on the strategic weapons arsenal,
0:16.4	a.k.a. the Nukes.
0:18.2	Peter Husey, president of Geostrategic Analysis, a fellow at the National Institute for Deterrent Studies.
0:25.3	Peter, there's a new administration in town, and there's an old plan called the Sentinel Upgrade.
0:30.6	What is the Sentinel? What is the upgrade? Where is the program? Good evening to you.
0:35.8	Good evening, John. The Sentinel program is to replace the
0:38.6	Minuteman, which is now 55 years old, and over the next 15 to 20 years, replace the old Minuteman
0:47.2	with the new Sentinel, which will be cheaper to operate. It will be easier to maintain. It'll have
0:54.1	penetrating capability to go through missile defenses, and it will be easier to maintain, it'll have penetrating capability to go through
0:55.9	missile defenses, and it will probably, I'm not sure, but I think it'll probably have better accuracy
1:01.5	and longer distance it can travel. And as I said, the missile itself is fine. The issues have to do
1:09.3	with the infrastructure, which means the silos, the stuff you put in the silos and the connecting tissue, which is the command and control and communication.
1:19.3	That's where the cost increases have been.
1:23.3	Infrastructure, you mean they're non-digital and they've got to upgrade to Apple?
1:30.2	No, they're digital, but what they have now are cables that link all 400 Minutemen silos with the launch control centers. And they have to
1:37.1	replace those because they're, as I said, they're 50 years old. And we have to do it in a way that can
1:43.2	keep the bad guys like China and Russia from trying
1:46.0	to interfere. Right now, the cabling is such that you can't, it's not the internet. So you can't
1:51.1	get into it and screw up the launch capability. But if you're going to go to a digital system,
	...

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