Scientists Call for Canceling New Land Based Nuclear Missiles

The document argues that the Sentinel ICBM program is prohibitively expensive, increases the risk of nuclear war due to high-alert postures, and is unnecessary given the existing submarine-launched ballistic missile capability.

• The Sentinel ICBM program has experienced significant cost increases, with production costs rising 37 percent to $131 billion as of January 2024, which constitutes a "critical breach" of the Nunn-McCurdy Act.
• Silo-based missiles are considered dangerous because their vulnerability to preemptive attacks necessitates a "hairtrigger" alert status, allowing the U.S. president to launch nuclear weapons in under five minutes without consultation.
• The strategy of using silo-based missiles as a "sponge" to attract nuclear attacks would likely result in the deaths of several million people in the U.S. due to radioactive fallout, regardless of where the silos are located.
• Land-based missiles are deemed unnecessary because the U.S. maintains a secure second-strike capability via approximately 1,000 nuclear warheads on submarines, which are described as "essentially invulnerable to attack."
• The authors warn that large-scale nuclear detonations would lead to immediate mass casualties, destruction of infrastructure, and potentially catastrophic climate impacts.

APA

Union of Concerned Scientists (n.d.). Scientists Call for Canceling New Land Based Nuclear Missiles. https://ucs-documents.s3.amazonaws.com/global-security/Sentinel-Letter-July-8-2024.pdf

Chicago

Union of Concerned Scientists. Scientists Call for Canceling New Land Based Nuclear Missiles. n.d. https://ucs-documents.s3.amazonaws.com/global-security/Sentinel-Letter-July-8-2024.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Union of Concerned Scientists |title=Scientists Call for Canceling New Land Based Nuclear Missiles |url=https://ucs-documents.s3.amazonaws.com/global-security/Sentinel-Letter-July-8-2024.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{unionofconcernedscientistsndscientists, author = {{Union of Concerned Scientists}}, title = {{Scientists Call for Canceling New Land Based Nuclear Missiles}}, publisher = {Union of Concerned Scientists}, url = {https://ucs-documents.s3.amazonaws.com/global-security/Sentinel-Letter-July-8-2024.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }