Naval Base Coronado Prepares for Defense Secretary Visit

CORONADO, CA — Defense Secretary Ash Carter will deliver a speech aboard the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson Thursday on San Diego Bay, addressing the shift of U.S. defense priorities to Asia, the Navy announced Monday.

Carter will also speak about ongoing security challenges in the Asia-Pacific region.

He began a four-state swing Monday by calling for billions of dollars of upgrades to U.S. nuclear weapons and facilities. Speaking to personnel at Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota — home to the B-52H Stratofortress bombers of the 5th Bomb Wing and the Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missiles of the 91st Missile Wing — he noted that the U.S. hasn't built a nuclear weapon in 25 years, while other nations have.

"Deterrence still depends on perception — what potential adversaries see, and therefore believe, about our ability to act,'' said Carter, as quoted by the publication Stars & Stripes.

Modernizing the entire U.S. nuclear arsenal is expected to cost $348 billion over the next eight years, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

Carter is scheduled to be in New Mexico on Tuesday and Wednesday, where he will speak at Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque and tour the Sandia and Los Alamos national laboratories.

After his speech aboard the Vinson, he'll travel to Honolulu, where he will host a meeting with defense ministers of Asian and Pacific countries.

— City News Service

Image via U.S. Navy