Delivery Systems & Nuclear Triad

The weapon systems that make up the U.S. nuclear triad have nearly outlived their operational utility and must be replaced to maintain a credible deterrent, senior Air Force officers in charge of nuclear forces said in congressional testimony Wednesday. Both Russia and China are rapidly modernizing and expanding their nuclear weapons stockpiles and delivery platforms, […]

Northrop Grumman recently completed the first full-scale static test of an LGM-35A Sentinel solid rocket motor at its test facility in Promontory, Utah, marking yet another milestone on the road to potentially flying an example of the next-generation intercontinental ballistic missile later this year. In partnership with the U.S. Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center, the […]

ARLINGTON, VA. — The National Nuclear Security Administration changed the design for the nuclear core of a planned intercontinental ballistic missile warhead late last year, a senior agency official said here Tuesday. Altering the design of the W87-1 plutonium pit, being developed by the agency’s Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California for the Air Force’s […]

ARLINGTON, VA. — The National Nuclear Security Administration changed the design for the nuclear core of a planned intercontinental ballistic missile warhead late last year, a senior agency official said here Tuesday. Altering the design of the W87-1 plutonium pit, being developed by the agency’s Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California for the Air Force’s […]

Conversion of 400 LGM-30 Minuteman III ICBM silos to accommodate Northrop Grumman’s Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missiles will draw lessons from recent work by the company’s team in Utah. Parsons Corp., an original designer of the Minuteman silos, is a subcontractor to Northrop Grumman on the conversion of the Minuteman III silos for the Sentinel program. […]

Conversion of 400 LGM-30 Minuteman III ICBM silos to accommodate Northrop Grumman’s Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missiles will draw lessons from recent work by the company’s team in Utah. Parsons Corp., an original designer of the Minuteman silos, is a subcontractor to Northrop Grumman on the conversion of the Minuteman III silos for the Sentinel program. […]

Air Force Gen. Anthony Cotton on Friday assumed command of the interagency forces that carry U.S. nuclear weapons. Cotton, previously commander of Air Force Global Strike Command, took over from Admiral Charles Richard, who has led U.S. Strategic Command since November 2019. Richard will retire from active duty, Strategic Command said. The change of command […]

Air Force Gen. Anthony Cotton was set on Friday to assume command of the interagency forces that carry U.S. nuclear weapons. Cotton, now commander of Air Force Global Strike Command, will take over from Admiral Charles Richard, who has led U.S. Strategic Command since November 2019. Richard will retire from active duty, Strategic Command said. […]

ARLINGTON, VA. — The Navy and the National Nuclear Security Administration will make their design choices about the W93 submarine-launched ballistic missile warhead next year, an admiral said here at an industry conference Tuesday. “Next year most likely we will do the downselect to understand what are the key military requirements that [U.S. Strategic Command] […]

The Navy plans to buy five Columbia-class nuclear-armed ballistic missile submarines in a block buy after the first two vessels and little margin remains to get the first vessel on patrol by the early 2030s, an admiral said Tuesday. “For long range planning and to signal the industrial base…our plan will be to buy the […]

The Joe Biden Administration will maintain all three legs of the U.S. nuclear triad, which need to be modernized to remain relevant, a senior Pentagon official said Tuesday. “At least in this current moment, in the current security environment, and again validated all the way up to the President … we needed to retain the […]

The Joe Biden Administration will maintain all three legs of the U.S. nuclear triad, which need to be modernized to remain relevant, a senior Pentagon official said Tuesday. “At least in this current moment, in the current security environment, and again validated all the way up to the President … we needed to retain the […]

Congress should not authorize or fund a nuclear-tipped, lower-yield sea-launched cruise missile or save a megaton-class gravity bomb, the White House said again this week. The message was part of a statement of administration policy about the Senate’s version of the fiscal year 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which like the version of the […]

Congress should not authorize or fund a nuclear-tipped, lower-yield sea-launched cruise missile or save a megaton-class gravity bomb, the White House said again Tuesday. The message was part of a statement of administration policy about the Senate’s version of the fiscal year 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which like the version of the annual […]

In an amendment to the Senate’s biggest defense bill of the year, Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) wants to force another debate about whether Congress should authorize the National Nuclear Security Administration and the Navy to build a nuclear-tipped, sea-launched cruise missile. Van Hollen’s amendment would bar development of the missile, citing the cost. President […]

In an amendment to the Senate’s biggest defense bill of the year, Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) wants to force another debate about whether Congress should authorize the National Nuclear Security Administration and the Navy to build a nuclear-tipped, sea-launched cruise missile. Van Hollen’s amendment would bar development of the missile, citing the cost. President […]

NATIONAL HARBOR, MD — Sentinel, the next nuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic missile, is a “real program,” a senior executive with the rocket’s prime contractor said here Wednesday at an industry conference. “Just yesterday we announced … the casting for the first and the second stage [Sentinel rocket] motors,” James Kowalski, vice president of government programs at […]

NATIONAL HARBOR, MD — Sentinel, the next nuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic missile, is a “real program,” a senior executive with the rocket’s prime contractor said here Wednesday at an industry conference.  “Just yesterday we announced … the casting for the first and the second stage [Sentinel rocket] motors,” James Kowalski, vice president of government programs at […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration removed a tranche of weapon useable plutonium from the Nevada National Security Site after a roughly three-year layover, Nevada’s senior U.S. Senator said Friday. The nuclear weapons agency moved the plutonium to the test site in 2018 after the state of South Carolina successfully sued the government for keeping the […]

ARLIGNTON, VA — Though some in the U.S. government feel Russia will rely increasingly on non-conventional and nuclear arms, including tactical nuclear weapons, that does not make a case for continuing development of a low-yield, sea-launched nuclear cruise missile, a Pentagon official said here Wednesday. The sea-launched nuclear cruise missile (SLCM-N), with its W80-4 variant […]

ARLIGNTON, VA — Though some in the U.S. government feel Russia will rely increasingly on non-conventional and nuclear arms, including tactical nuclear weapons, that does not make a case for continuing development of a low-yield, sea-launched nuclear cruise missile, a Pentagon official said here Wednesday. The sea-launched nuclear cruise missile (SLCM-N), with its W80-4 variant […]

Life extensions for existing Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines should take some of the pressure off the Navy’s beleaguered Columbia-class replacements for those boats, the service’s head of acquisition for nuclear-armed submarines said recently. Building more Columbia boats in the 2030s than now planned could also help, Rear Adm. Scott Pappano, the Navy’s program executive officer for strategic submarines, said […]

Life extensions for existing Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines should take some of the pressure off the Navy’s beleaguered Columbia-class replacements for those boats, the service’s head of acquisition for nuclear-armed submarines said recently. Building more Columbia boats than now planned in the 2030s could also help, Rear Adm. Scott Pappano, the Navy’s program executive officer […]

While it has fixed the bad welds that plagued the program last decade, BWX Technologies, Lynchburg, Va., is still having trouble manufacturing common missile compartment tubes for Columbia-, Virginia– and Dreadnought-class submarines, the company’s CEO said this week. “[W]e continue to have some struggles with the missile tubes program,” Rex Geveden, BWX Technologies’ (BWXT) chief […]

While it has fixed the bad welds that plagued the program last decade, BWX Technologies, Lynchburg, Va., is still having trouble manufacturing common missile compartment tubes for Columbia-, Virginia– and Dreadnought-class submarines, the company’s CEO said this week. “[W]e continue to have some struggles with the missile tubes program,” Rex Geveden, BWX Technologies’ (BWXT) chief […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration now expects to produce the proof-of-concept article for the refurbished W80 nuclear cruise-missile warhead by the end of fiscal year 2027, roughly two years later than planned. The semiautonomous Department of Energy nuclear weapons agency will turn out the W80-4 first production unit by Sept. 30, 2027 instead of some […]

Northrop Grumman’s top executive on Thursday rejected any government concerns that the company isn’t complying with a consent order it agreed to in 2018 when it acquired Orbital ATK to ensure it remains a fair supplier of solid rocket motors to competitors in the aerospace and defense industries. The company has disclosed in its quarterly […]

House appropriators want to provide the National Nuclear Security Administration with all the funding it requested in 2023 to build plutonium pit factories in New Mexico and South Carolina and fund a megaton-capable bomb the White House wanted to kill. The 2023 energy and water development appropriations act approved this week on a party line […]

The House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday voted for more scrutiny of Department of Energy nuclear-weapon-site contracting and against a proposal to condition funding for the Secretary of Defense’s office on an intercontinental ballistic missile test. The votes were part of the committee’s debate of the fiscal year 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration would be authorized to spend $375 million more than requested on a plutonium pit factory at the Savannah River Site in fiscal year 2023, if a bill passed early Thursday morning by the House Armed Services Committee becomes law. The agency would also be allowed, along with the Navy, to […]