The American Missile Crisis
The article discusses the declining state of US munitions stockpiles amid recent global conflicts. It highlights the bottleneck in solid rocket motor production due to the limited availability of ammonium perchlorate, the key oxidizer for missile fuel. The piece argues for the strategic importance of developing a second propulsion supply chain, particularly through liquid propulsion systems, to enhance US missile production capacity.
- ▪US munitions stockpiles have significantly decreased since the Cuban Missile Crisis.
- ▪The production of solid rocket motors is constrained by the limited availability of ammonium perchlorate, with only one US producer remaining.
- ▪Developing liquid propulsion systems could help alleviate the current bottleneck in missile production.
Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
Recent global conflicts, from Russia and Ukraine to Iran and Israel, have seen a resurgent awareness of the frailty of US munitions stock, which has been drawn down by both direct and indirect involvement in these events. While exact stockpile volumes are not disclosed, it is estimated that supplies of US warheads and the missiles that carry them have declined by nearly an order of magnitude since their peak during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Analysts have estimated that in the event of a conflict in the Pacific between China and Taiwan, US munitions supplies could be depleted in as few as three days, with some higher-tier terminal-phase missile supplies potentially depleted in the first 24 hours of conflict. This was a foreseeable problem.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at Contrary.
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