Life Extension Programs

The Pentagon confirmed Tuesday that it has deployed the W76-2 low-yield warhead for submarine-launched ballistic-missiles. “The U.S. Navy has fielded the W76-2 low-yield submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) warhead.,” according to a statement from Undersecretary of Defense for Policy John Rood. The nongovernmental Federation of American Scientists reported last week that the Navy deployed “one or […]

The Navy on Friday awarded Lockheed Martin a $474 million contract for Trident II (D5) ballistic missile life-extension work. The contract specifically covers the Life Extension 2 Strategic Systems Programs Alteration Advanced Development Program. Work will largely occur in Denver, Colo., and is expected to be finished by September 2026. The Navy obligated $3 million […]

The USS Tennessee ballistic-missile submarine went on an Atlantic Ocean patrol in December, armed with “one or two” of the brand new W76-2 low-yield warheads, the Washington-based Federation of American Scientists reported Wednesday. “We estimate that one or two of the 20 missiles on the USS Tennessee and subsequent subs will be armed with the W76-2, either singly […]

A federal judge is not pulling the plug yet on Nevada’s lawsuit to have a half-metric ton of plutonium trucked out of the state, despite the Department of Energy’s repeated requests to dismiss the case. The U.S. District Court for Nevada has scheduled a teleconference for March 12 to discuss the state’s desire to conduct […]

Congress wants the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration to slide about $5.5 million from the maintenance budget for the W80 cruise-missile warhead into a Pentagon study to select a design for a nuclear-tipped, sea-launched cruise missile, according to a compromise 2020 spending bill that would fund the agency through September. The Donald Trump administration proposed […]

Congress wants the National Nuclear Security Administration to slide about $5.5 million from the maintenance budget for the W80 cruise-missile warhead into a Pentagon study to select a design for a nuclear-tipped, sea-launched cruise missile, according to a compromise 2020 spending bill that would fund the agency through September. The Donald Trump administration proposed studying […]

MCLEAN, Va. — The U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) plans to help defray cost overruns on two nuclear-weapon refurbishments by stripping features out of the planned warhead for the Air Force’s next land-based intercontinental ballistic missile, a senior agency official said Thursday. The features to be cut, however, are not mission-essential requirements for the […]

The U.S. Air Force has not yet addressed any plans to export the B-21 Raider as the next-generation bomber moves through development, Will Roper, the service’s acquisition chief, told reporters Nov. 12. “I’m going to keep my head focused on getting to initial operational capability on time and then I’ll let the debate go where […]

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congress might not block the Navy from deploying a low-yield nuclear warhead this year after all, House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith (D-Wash.), an influential opponent of the weapon, said here Thursday. “That’s going to be very, very difficult, very difficult, because of the strong opposition from both the White House […]

WASHINGTON —It will cost as much as $850 million to replace commercial capacitors deemed unsuitable for use in two refurbished nuclear weapons, a senior National Nuclear Security Administration official told lawmakers here this week. For the B61-12 gravity bomb, an ongoing homogenization of four different versions of the oldest deployed nuclear weapon, the costs will […]

WASHINGTON —It will cost as much as $850 million to replace commercial capacitors unsuitable for use in two refurbished nuclear weapons, a senior National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) official told lawmakers here. For the B61-12 gravity bomb, an ongoing homogenization of four different versions of the oldest deployed nuclear weapon, the costs will range from […]

The U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and the Air Force in August completed three more flight tests of the B61-12 nuclear gravity bomb — a weapon whose first production date will be delayed because one of its non-nuclear components was not durable enough to last 30 years in the field. The latest three tests […]

ARLINGTON, Va. — It could take 18 months longer than thought to finish a pair of crucial nuclear weapon refurbishments, a senior National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) official said here Wednesday. The first production units of the B61-12 gravity bomb and the W88 Alt-370 submarine-launched ballistic-missile warhead are “going to be delayed by approximately 16 […]

ARLINGTON, Va. — It could take 18 months longer than thought to finish a pair of crucial nuclear weapon refurbishments, a senior National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) official said here Wednesday. The first production units of the B61-12 gravity bomb and the W88 Alt-370 submarine-launched ballistic-missile warhead are “going to be delayed by approximately 16 […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is still determining if problems with non-nuclear components will prevent the B61-12 gravity bomb and W88 Alt 370 submarine-launched ballistic missile warhead from entering service with the Air Force and Navy on time, according to an annual agency report released Wednesday. The details are included in the agency’s 2020 Stockpile […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is still determining if problems with non-nuclear weapons components will prevent the B61-12 gravity bomb and W88 Alt 370 submarine-launched ballistic missile warhead from entering service with the Air Force and Navy on time, according to an annual agency report released Wednesday. The details are included in the agency’s 2020 […]

The Department of Energy will probably deliver the first nuclear warhead for the next U.S. air-launched cruise missile a year later than the agency’s official fiscal 2025 forecast, according to an internal report. The department’s semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is “highly unlikely” to complete the Long-Range Standoff Weapon’s W80-4 warhead — a refurbished […]

Late delivery of insensitive high explosives to the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California will delay by “at 2 two months” the National Nuclear Security Administration’s program to refurbish an old warhead for a next-generation air-launched cruise missile, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported this week. However, the semiautonomous Department of Energy stockpile steward still […]

Late delivery of high explosives to the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California will delay by “at 2 two months” the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) program to refurbish an old warhead for a next-generation air-launched cruise missile, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported Monday. Livermore, which leads the W80-4 life-extension program, needs the high […]

Deployed nuclear weapons do not contain the underperforming commercial capacitors blamed for delaying delivery of the first B61-12 and W88 Alt 370 nuclear weapons, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) said Friday. The semiautonomous Department of Energy weapons agency “has verified that these components are not in use in other deployed weapons, nor will they […]

Boeing’s contract to build the tail kit that will guide the B61-12 nuclear gravity bomb during free fall is worth $215 million over four years, according to an Air Force procurement document released last week. The Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida released the initial funds for the sole-source […]

WASHINGTON — The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) will be late in making initial deliveries to the Pentagon of two refurbished nuclear weapons, the head of the Energy Department’s semiautonomous nuclear-weapon agency said this week. The Air Force was supposed to get its refurbished B61, to be called B61-12, in 2020. The Navy was supposed […]

WASHINGTON — The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) will be late with initial deliveries to the Pentagon of two refurbished nuclear weapons, the head of the semiautonomous nuclear-weapons agency said here Wednesday. The Air Force was supposed to get its refurbished B61, to be called B61-12, in 2020. The Navy was supposed to get its […]

WASHINGTON – A senior Pentagon official declined to say here Wednesday whether he believes the Department of Energy can deliver nuclear warheads for next-generation intercontinental ballistic missiles on time if Congress does not fund both the plutonium-pit production plants the civilian agency wants to build. “I’m aware of the issue, but I wouldn’t want to […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) last week accepted the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board’s (DNFSB) recommendation to improve the safety of nuclear explosives handling at the Pantex weapons service plant in Amarillo, Texas. Some of these tweaks to operations at the Pantex Plant are complete already, NNSA Administrator Lisa Gordon-Hagerty wrote in a letter to […]

The Air Force last week awarded Boeing a $14.3 billion indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract to modernize the B-1 and B-52 bomber weapons systems through 2029, according to an April 12 announcement. The contract includes the modification, modernization, engineering, sustainment and test for the weapons systems on the B-1 Lancer and the B-52 Stratofortress. “This B-1/B-52 Flexible Acquisition and […]

A planned South Carolina facility will be able to produce 50 plutonium nuclear-weapon cores a year by 2030, despite a Department of Energy-funded study that says 2035 is more realistic, according to a top official with DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). “We have been working on scenarios to bring it back in time to […]

Proportionally or by raw dollars, the W80-4 life-extension program would get the biggest increase of any active Department of Energy nuclear warhead refurbishment in fiscal 2020, if the Trump administration’s budget request becomes law. The program led by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California already received an enormous budget increase in 2019 to pace […]

Proportionally or by raw dollars, the W80-4 life-extension program would get the biggest increase of any active Department of Energy nuclear warhead refurbishment in fiscal 2020, if the Trump administration’s budget request became law. The program led by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California already received an enormous budget increase in 2019 to pace […]

Kim Budil started this week in her new job as director of weapons complex and integration at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, making her the point person for the nuclear warhead to be used on a next-generation cruise missile. Monday was Budil’s first day in her new role, a lab spokesperson confirmed Tuesday. […]