U.S. Air Force Gen. Paul Selva, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said during an Air Force Association breakfast event held Friday the military needs to recapitalize and modernize the U.S. nuclear enterprise, DoD News reported Friday.

He told event audience that nuclear triad recapitalization efforts should include replacing current intercontinental ballistic missiles and constructing the Columbia-class nuclear submarine and a new bomber aircraft.

Selva added the Nuclear Posture Review document released in February covered key elements and capabilities of nuclear deterrence.

Additionally, he noted that U.S. needs to sustain the country’s deterrence capability it achieved during the Cold War.

The military has used Minuteman III IBCMs since the missile technology’s launch in 1968.

Michael Griffin, undersecretary of defense for research and engineering, recently criticized the defense industry for being “mired in process” just like the government, Space News reported Sunday.

Speaking to contractors at last week’s Space and Missile Defense Symposium in Huntsville, Ala., Griffin called out his audience for practices that bog down procurement, recommending that such excess processes be shortened if not removed altogether.

“[Each] of you at every single level have to look at what you are doing and weed out that which you do not need to do and weed out the people who do not need to be consulted,” Griffin said.

Griffin pointed to China as a study in contrast, attributing the country’s ability to develop hypersonic weapons to speedy decision-making.

“What are they doing differently? They are not doing a lot of things that clearly do not need to be done,” Griffin remarked.

The undersecretary went on to advise his listeners “to identify … the key decision makers, the chains of command and empower them to decide quickly.”

President Donald Trump has signed into law a spending bill that allocates $616.9 billion for the Defense Department‘s base budget, $21.9 billion for Energy Department nuclear weapons initiatives and $69 billion for overseas contingency operations, CNBC reported Monday.

The fiscal 2019 National Defense Authorization Act will fully fund the U.S. Air Force’s B-21 bomber project and allocate $7.6 billion in funds for the purchase of 77 Lockheed Martin-built F-35 fighter jets and $85 million for Sikorsky-made UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters.

The measure includes $284 million in funds to support the U.S. Army’s integration of its Patriot missile defense platform with the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system and the procurement of 13 new combat ships, including a $1.56 billion budget for three littoral combat ships.

Trump said in his speech Monday at Fort Drum in New York that the fiscal 2019 NDAA authorizes more than 3,000 joint light tactical vehicles, 60 Bradley combat vehicles and 135 M1 Abrams tanks for the Army.

He noted the measure, which was named for Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), will earmark funds to modernize the country’s nuclear arsenal and missile defense systems.

The president also issued a statement on the legislation’s several provisions, including the formation within the executive branch of an advisory commission that would provide recommendations and reports on the use of machine learning and artificial intelligence in national security.