Life Extension Programs

The National Nuclear Security Administration and the Air Force completed a series of eight flight tests of the refurbished B61-12 nuclear bomb in December, marking another milestone in the bomb’s life extension program. The tests, known as Vibration Fly Around/Instrumented Measurement Vehicle tests, were conducted at Eglin Air Force Base and Edwards Air Force Base […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 2/6/2015 The Navy is continuing to accelerate the pace of returning W76-0 warheads to the National Nuclear Security Administration for storage and plans to be finished shipping the warheads back to the agency by FY 2016, the NNSA said this week. Fiscal Year 2016 budget documents released this week revealed work […]

Proposed Budget Prioritizes Life Extension Program Work Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 2/2/2015 One year after delaying the cruise missile warhead life extension program, the Obama Administration is proposing to shift its approach in Fiscal Year 2016, accelerating work on the refurbishment effort and providing a significant funding boost for the program. The program, renamed the […]

The refurbishment of the cruise missile warhead for the Air Force’s new Long-Range Standoff weapon is expected to be the recipient of a significant increase in requested funding when President Obama’s Fiscal Year 2016 budget is unveiled today, bucking a request made last week by a group of nonproliferation and arms control experts to cancel […]

Purification Facility Remains Shutdown After Chemical Spill NS&D Monitor 1/9/2015 A Y-12 facility that produces Fogbank for nuclear weapons use remains shutdown following a Dec. 16 chemical spill, and a federal spokesman refused to give a timetable for its return to action. “The Purification Facility remains shut down and is in a recovery mode at […]

NNSA Weapons Program Receives $8.23 Billion in Bill, Down $83 Million From Request Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 12/12/2014 A feasibility study for refurbishing the cruise missile warhead will go forward in Fiscal Year 2015, according to funding legislation released this week by House and Senate appropriators. The $9.4 million study represents a sliver of the […]

A feasibility study for refurbishing the cruise missile warhead will go forward in Fiscal Year 2015, according to funding legislation released last night by House and Senate appropriators. The $9.4 million study represents a sliver of the overall budget for the National Nuclear Security Administration in the catch-all spending package, but the decision to include […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 10/24/2014 The National Nuclear Security Administration has completed half of its refurbishment work on the W76-1 nuclear warhead and is on track to complete the life extension program by the end of Fiscal Year 2019, the agency said this week. The NNSA has not released the number of W76 warheads that […]

Hommert: B61 Can ‘Survive’ Short-term Stopgap Funding Measure, but Long-Term CR ‘Gets Dicier’ Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 9/19/2014 Engineering work at Sandia National Laboratories on the refurbishment of the B61 bomb will continue during Fiscal Year 2015 largely unaffected by a short-term Continuing Resolution, but the work can’t continue as planned under Fiscal Year 2014 […]

The Air Force portion of the B61 warhead life extension program — which involves tail kit assembly — is on schedule for a first production unit in 2020, top Air Force officials said yesterday. The modernization involves consolidating the current four B61 variants – B61-3, B61-4, B61-7 and B61-10 – into a single B61-12 variant. […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 8/22/2014 LA VISTA, Neb.—After establishing a program manager for uranium production, National Nuclear Security Administration chief Frank Klotz said the agency is strengthening—and in some cases creating—program manager positions for all of its life extension programs as well as its plutonium and tritium work. Speaking at U.S. Strategic Command’s Deterrence Symposium […]

After establishing a program manager for uranium production, National Nuclear Security Administration chief Frank Klotz said the agency is strengthening—and in some cases creating—program manager positions for all of its life extension programs as well as its plutonium and tritium work. Speaking at U.S. Strategic Command’s Deterrence Symposium in La Vista, Neb., last week, Klotz […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 7/25/2014 Senate appropriators fully funded the Obama Administration’s $643 million Fiscal Year 2015 request for refurbishment work on the B61 bomb, but according to documents finally released by the panel this week, it appears they did so grudgingly, and with considerable reservations. Led by Senate Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee Chair […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 2/14/2014 Recent surveillance work on the W78 and W88 warheads has revealed that the warheads can be sustained until 2030, allowing the National Nuclear Security Administration to delay work on an interoperable warhead, NNSA weapons program chief Don Cook said this week on the sidelines of the Sixth Annual Nuclear Deterrence […]

Senior Navy Admiral Says Refreshing High Explosive in Warhead Under Consideration Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 6/20/2014 The Nuclear Weapons Council is currently examining expanding the scope of the W88 Alt 370, debating replacing the conventional high explosive as part of an effort to replace the arming, fusing and firing mechanism on the warhead, Navy Strategic […]

The Nuclear Weapons Council is currently examining expanding the scope of the W88 Alt 370, debating replacing the conventional high explosive as part of an effort to replace the arming, fuzing and firing mechanism on the warhead, Navy Strategic Systems Programs Director Vice Adm. Terry Benedict said Friday. Speaking at the Capitol Hill Club, Benedict […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 2/07/2014 Los Alamos and Sandia national laboratories recently com-pleted the first full-system mechanical environment test ona refurbished B61 nuclear bomb, marking a key milestone in the life extension program for the weapons system, the National Nuclear Security Administration said this week. The test is the first in a series of environmental […]

LAB COMPLETES B61-11 SURVEILLANCE TEST NS&D Monitor 1/17/2014 Sandia National Laboratories successfully completed an impact test of a B61-11 earth penetrator in late November, a key milestone for the National Nuclear Security Administration’s enhanced surveillance program. The test involved pulling a randomly chosen weapon from the stockpile, replacing its nuclear package with an inert dummy, […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration’s B61 life extension program has reached another milestone as Sandia National Laboratories officials successfully conducted the first wind tunnel test of the refurbished nuclear bomb. The eight days of testing at the largest wind tunnel that could accommodate the warhead, the Air Force’s Arnold Engineering and Development Center at Arnold […]

Recent surveillance work on the W78 and W88 warheads has revealed that the warheads can be sustained until 2030, allowing the National Nuclear Security Administration to delay work on an interoperable warhead, NNSA weapons program chief Don Cook said yesterday on the sidelines of the Nuclear Deterrence Summit. Cook would not comment directly on the […]

Los Alamos and Sandia national laboratories recently completed the first full-system mechanical environment test on a refurbished B61 nuclear bomb, marking a key milestone in the life extension program for the weapons system, the National Nuclear Security Administration said yesterday. The test is the first in a series of environmental tests designed to certify that […]

Los Alamos and Sandia national laboratories recently completed the first full-system mechanical environment test on a refurbished B61 nuclear bomb, marking a key milestone in the life extension program for the weapons system, the National Nuclear Security Administration said yesterday. The test is the first in a series of environmental tests designed to certify that […]

Recent surveillance work on the W78 and W88 warheads has revealed that the warheads can be sustained until 2030, allowing the National Nuclear Security Administration to delay work on an interoperable warhead, NNSA weapons program chief Don Cook said yesterday on the sidelines of the Nuclear Deterrence Summit. Cook would not comment directly on the […]

As the Senate moved to take up its version of the Fiscal Year 2014 Defense Authorization Act, the Obama Administration voiced opposition to several provisions in the bill, including language that would require the Pentagon and National Nuclear Security Administration to develop cost estimates for four separate life extension program options as part of a […]

The Obama Administration will pursue retirement of the B83 nuclear gravity bomb once the current B61 life extension program is completed, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said in a letter to Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) earlier this month. Feinstein has been an outspoken skeptic of the Administration’s plans to refurbish the […]

Sandia National Laboratories said yesterday that an impact test involving the B61 nuclear bomb in late November performed as expected. The impact test was the first rocket-driven impact test at the lab in seven years after a 2008 accident at the lab’s 10,000-foot rocket sled track forced a hiatus to rocket-driven tests. In the three […]

The B61 refurbishment program will be the subject of a House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee hearing Oct. 10. The hearing is expected to be held despite the government shutdown, and will include testimony from Strategic Command chief Gen. Robert Kehler, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Global Strategic Affairs Madelyn Creedon, NNSA weapons program chief […]

A House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee hearing on the National Nuclear Security Administration’s B61 refurbishment program scheduled for today has been postponed because of the government shutdown. Lawmakers had hoped to avoid postponing the hearing but complications due to the continuing shutdown made pushing back the hearing unavoidable. Strategic Command chief Gen. Robert Kehler, […]

Cuts to the National Nuclear Security Administration’s B61 life extension program could imperil the airborne leg of the nation’s nuclear deterrent, four former leaders of U.S. Strategic Command (and its Air Force predecessor, Strategic Air Command) said in a letter last month to key leaders on the Senate Appropriations and Armed Services committees. The B61 […]

Senior leaders from the Pentagon, National Nuclear Security Administration, U.S. Strategic Command and Sandia National Laboratories spoke out in support of the B61 life extension program during a House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee hearing yesterday, suggesting that the expensive refurbishment was the cheapest approach that would still meet military requirements. The refurbishment, which will […]