Pentagon Speeding Up Work On First New Nuclear Warhead In 40 Years
April 19th, 2024I feel safer already.
Via: Washington Times:
The United States is building the first new nuclear warhead in 40 years but will do so without nuclear testing, Energy Department officials told Congress on Wednesday.
The W93 warhead will be used on submarine-launched ballistic missiles and is being built with $19.8 billion requested by the National Nuclear Security Agency, or NNSA, for weapons in fiscal 2025, according to Senate testimony by Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm and NNSA Administrator Jill Hruby.
The W93 has been in an early phase of feasibility and design at Los Alamos National Laboratory since May 2022 and is “on track” for production beginning in the mid-2030s, the two officials said in prepared testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Nuclear forces modernization is the Pentagon’s top priority, and the Navy’s nuclear-missile submarines are considered the linchpin of U.S. strategic nuclear forces, which also include ICBMs and bombers.
NNSA stated on its website that the W93 “will allow the U.S. to keep pace with future adversary threats.”
