Delivery Systems & Nuclear Triad

The proposed nuclear-tipped sea-launched cruise missile might yet survive the Joe Biden administration’s nuclear posture review thanks among other things to the reported discovery of new Chinese missile silos, the official who coordinated the Donald Trump administration’s Nuclear Posture Review said Wednesday. “I thought perhaps at the beginning of this process that this particular weapon […]

The proposed nuclear-tipped sea-launched cruise missile might yet survive the Joe Biden administration’s nuclear posture review thanks among other things to the reported discovery of new Chinese missile silos, the official who coordinated the Donald Trump administration’s Nuclear Posture Review said Wednesday. “I thought perhaps at the beginning of this process that this particular weapon […]

Many Air Force acquisition programs are “solid,” and “prudent,” the Biden administration’s nominee to lead those programs at the Pentagon told the Senate Armed Services Committee Tuesday — “especially those which are currently modernizing the nation’s nuclear deterrent.” The declaration was part of Andrew Hunter’s advanced policy questions, which the former Pentagon hand and Hill […]

Air Force pilots in F-35A aircraft recently wrapped up the final two of 10 guided release tests to certify the jet to carry the B61-12 nuclear gravity bomb, the Air Force said Monday in a press release. Two F-35A Lightning II aircraft, piloted by the The 422nd and 59th Test and Evaluation Squadrons, took off […]

Many Air Force acquisition programs are “solid,” and “prudent,” the Biden administration’s nominee to lead those programs at the Pentagon told the Senate Armed Services Committee Tuesday — “especially those which are currently modernizing the nation’s nuclear deterrent.” The declaration was part of Andrew Hunter’s advanced policy questions, which the former Pentagon hand and Hill […]

Air Force pilots in F-35A aircraft recently wrapped up the final two of 10 guided release tests to certify the jet to carry the B61-12 nuclear gravity bomb, the Air Force said Monday in a press release. Two F-35A Lightning II aircraft, piloted by the The 422nd and 59th Test and Evaluation Squadrons, took off […]

The secretary of the Navy and Chief of Naval Operations announced four new flag officer assignments as part of a submarine acquisition restructuring as well as a new shipyard improvement position. Rear Adm. David Goggins is moving from program executive officer for submarines to program executive officer for attack submarines, which will consolidate and oversee […]

The Ground Based Strategic Deterrent program to replace nuclear-tipped Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles should proceed as planned and the Joe Biden administration’s nuclear posture review will be “unlike any that went before it” because of China’s rise on the world stage, the chair of the Senate Armed Forces strategic forces subcommittee said this week. […]

The Ground Based Strategic Deterrent program to replace nuclear-tipped Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles should proceed as planned and the Joe Biden administration’s nuclear posture review will be “unlike any that went before it” because of China’s rise on the world stage, the chair of the Senate Armed Forces strategic forces subcommittee said Tuesday. Sen. […]

Rep. John Garamendi (D-Calif.) has proposed amending the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act to delay rollout of next-generation intercontinental ballistic missiles and delete a requirement that the National Nuclear Security Administration produce 80 warhead cores annually by 2030. Garamendi filed the amendments to the annual must-pass defense-policy bill late last week. They are only two […]

ARLINGTON, Va. — A new poll commissioned in August by the Mitchell Institute here shows that a bipartisan group of U.S. voters favored acquisition of a new ground-based intercontinental ballistic missile fleet. The online poll, conducted in August 2021 by Washington-based communications firm Seven Letter, sampled 2,150 people who voted in the 2020 election. The […]

The current trillion-dollar nuclear modernization regime is based on obsolete thinking that fails to consider the emerging nuclear danger posed by China, the head of U.S. Strategic Command said this week at the virtual STATCOM Nuclear Deterrence Symposium. The U.S. is modernizing against “old requirements” developed with the assumption that China is a “lesser included case” in the nuclear […]

The House Armed Services Committee wants the Air Force to review its approach to the Ground Based Strategic Deterrent program, to include identifying potential steps for reducing costs and introducing more opportunities for competition in the operation and maintenance phase. The panel approved its version of the fiscal year 2022 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) […]

The House Armed Services Committee wants the Air Force to review its approach to the Ground Based Strategic Deterrent program, to include identifying potential steps for reducing costs and introducing more opportunities for competition in the operation and maintenance phase. The panel’s draft version of the next National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) notes the effort […]

The Air Force this week launched a non-nuclear Minuteman III missile, carrying what the service called a “high-fidelity joint test assembly,” from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The Air Force announced the early-morning launch in a press release. Supporting the test launch from the west coast were Air Force personnel from the 341st Missile Wing […]

The Air Force on Wednesday morning launched a non-nuclear Minuteman III missile, carrying what the service called a “high-fidelity joint test assembly,” from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The Air Force announced the early-morning launch in a press release. Supporting the test launch from the west coast were Air Force personnel from the 341st […]

The U.S. Air Force on July 7 awarded Northrop Grumman a contract that could be worth nearly $3.9 billion for ground subsystems support for the Boeing Minuteman III ICBMs until 2039. Northrop Grumman was the incumbent, as the company had won a $963 million contract for such support in January 2015. Given its long experience […]

After failing to build a plutonium recycling plant at the Savannah River Site after 20 years of planning and billions spent, the chair of the House Armed Services Committee said this week he doubts the National Nuclear Security Administration can turn the failed project into a plutonium pit factory. “I do not trust Savannah River,” […]

It may take almost a year longer than recently expected to fully certify the F-35A to internally carry one or two B61-12 nuclear gravity bombs, but the head of the service’s Nuclear Weapons Center said the nuclear end of things isn’t what’s pacing the process. “The timing right now I think to get to full […]

It may take almost a year longer than recently expected to fully certify the F-35A to internally carry one or two B61-12 nuclear gravity bombs, but the head of the service’s Nuclear Weapons Center said the nuclear end of things isn’t what’s pacing the process. “The timing right now I think to get to full […]

By suggesting that the Navy cancel a nuclear-armed sea-launched cruise missile, the service’s acting secretary imperilled arms control negotiations and undercut President Joe Biden, Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio) said during a hearing this week. “Everybody at the Pentagon needs to understand the severity of the actions you have taken and its implications for the United […]

The Air Force’s top nuclear procurement officer on Monday positioned the service’s effort to build its next nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missile as a way to shore up the nuclear-industrial base for decades and create a weapon that arms control treaties can’t kill. The Ground Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD), the first lot of which which prime Northrop […]

By suggesting that the Navy cancel a nuclear-armed sea-launched cruise missile, the service’s acting secretary imperilled arms control negotiations and undercut President Joe Biden, Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio) said during a hearing Tuesday. “Everybody at the Pentagon needs to understand the severity of the actions you have taken and its implications for the United States […]

The Air Force’s top nuclear procurement officer on Monday positioned the service’s effort to build its next nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missile as a way to shore up the nuclear-industrial base for decades and create a weapon that arms control treaties can’t kill. The Ground Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD), the first lot of which which prime Northrop […]

The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Secretary of Defense did not have advanced warnings about the acting secretary of the Navy’s memo last week that urged the service to cancel a planned nuclear-tipped sea-launched cruise missile.  “I am not familiar with the memo nor was I consulted, but as soon as […]

The Navy should scrap plans to develop a nuclear-tipped sea-launched cruise missile, the service’s acting secretary wrote in a memo dated June 4. Media this week widely reported on the memo that Thomas Harker, the acting secretary of the Navy, sent to the undersecretary of the navy, the commandant of the marine corps, the chief […]

The head of Air Force Global Strike Command is not concerned that the next-generation warhead for the next-generation nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missile will be delayed because of a projected delay with one of the two plutonium pit-production plants that will supply the new warhead’s core. In a webcast address to the public and press Thursday […]

Rep. John Garamendi (D-Calif.), a reliable vote against the nuclear-modernization status quo in the House Armed Services Committee, told disarmament advocates this week that the Joe Biden administration should pause development of the next U.S. intercontinental ballistic missile. It was one of two steps Garamendi said Biden should take as part of the administration’s nuclear […]

Rep. John Garamendi (D-Calif.), a reliable vote against the nuclear-modernization status quo in the House Armed Services Committee, told disarmament advocates Monday that the Joe Biden administration should pause development of the next U.S. intercontinental ballistic missile. It was one of two steps Garamendi said Biden should take as part of the administration’s nuclear posture […]

An unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile was unable to conduct a planned test launch from Vandenberg AFB, Calif. on May 5th. “The unarmed missile in test configuration reacted exactly as it was designed, terminating the launch on the ground when it detected a fault in its launch sequence,” U.S. Air Force Global Strike Command […]