Warhead & Weapons Development

Personnel at the Pantex Plant will have their dosimetry badges analyzed at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Tennessee indefinitely after the Texas assembly facility’s decades-old dosimetry processing equipment finally broke down. Pantex shifted dosimetry processing to Y-12 on a permanent basis at the end of September, and “there are no current plans to restore […]

A pair of university systems plus just about every major contractor to run the sites in the last decade-plus were among the 49 entities whose representatives toured the Y-12 National Security Site and the Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas, last month as part of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s competition to find a new site […]

The competitive landscape for the potentially 10-year, $28-billion contract to manage the National Nuclear Security Administration’s two big nuclear weapons production sites is starting to come into focus, now that the agency has hosted hopefuls for site visits and one-on-one meetings. Following tours of the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn., and the […]

Not that it ever stopped, but the National Nuclear Security Administration this week officially reaffirmed its decision to continue building the Uranium Processing Facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn. The long-expected news, delivered Wednesday in an amended record of decision filed in the Federal Register, was presaged in June, when […]

Not that it ever stopped, but the National Nuclear Security Administration on Wednesday officially reaffirmed its decision to continue building the Uranium Processing Facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn. The long-expected news, delivered in an amended record of decision filed in the Federal Register, was pressaged in June, when the […]

The competitive landscape for the potentially 10-year, $28-billion contract to manage the National Nuclear Security Administration’s two big nuclear weapons production sites is starting to come into focus, now that the agency has hosted hopefuls for site visits and one-on-one meetings. Following tours of the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn., and the […]

A two-university team is offering its services to prospective bidders on a potentially 10-year contract to manage the National Nuclear Security Administration’s two major nuclear-weapons manufacturing sites, but it had not hooked on with any industry partners this week. “The University of Tennessee System and the Texas A&M University System have announced a strategic alliance […]

The B61-12 nuclear gravity bomb the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is building will work with the Boeing-built F-15E Strike Eagle, the Sandia National Laboratories said last week. “Sandia National Laboratories and the Air Force conducted the full-weapon system demonstration under a full end-to-end test scenario, demonstrating operational crews, representative carriage, release conditions and weapon […]

The Air Force recently completed the preliminary design review (PDR) for the Northrop Grumman-developed Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD) in late April. The PDR took place April 28-30 and is the latest major programmatic milestone for the service to undertake virtually, including over classified computer networks, as many program personnel work limited hours or from home […]

WASHINGTON — The W93 warhead will notionally be based on previously deployed nuclear-explosive components, the head of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) said here Tuesday.  The W93, a planned submarine-launched warhead and the first U.S. nuclear weapon since the Cold War that isn’t a copy or iteration of an existing weapon, has been a […]

WASHINGTON — The commander of U.S. nuclear forces would not be drawn into a discussion on details of the planned W93 sea-based warhead in an open hearing Thursday, stoically deflecting questions from a curious lawmaker and declaring the planned weapon makes him “proud to be an American.” “I think that is one of those things […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and the Pentagon plan deploy W87-0 warheads, without new plutonium pit cores, on some Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent intercontinental ballistic missiles missiles. The plan, confirmed Thursday through an NNSA spokesperson, could give the semiautonomous Department of Energy nuclear-weapon agency more time to get a pair of planned pit factories up […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) seeks nearly a fourfold funding increase for development of the W87-, silo-based intercontinental ballistic-missile warhead in fiscal 2021, plus more than $1 billion to help build the plutonium cores for that warhead, according to new budget details released Monday. The budget proposal from the semiautonomous Department of Energy nuclear […]

Complications with the B61-12 and W88 Alt-370 programs might delay production of new intercontinental ballistic missile fuzes at the Kansas City National Security Campus by more than a year, Pentagon budget documents show. The Air Force will need 10 months longer than expected, 41 months total, to purchase long-lead parts for the the ICBM Fuze […]

The Defense Department plans to use the proposed W93 submarine-launched nuclear ballistic missile (SLBM) warhead to eventually replace the current W76 and W88 warheads without increasing the size of the nuclear stockpile, according to a senior Pentagon official. The U.S. currently uses the W76 and W88 families of warheads on the Trident II D5 SLBMs […]

The latest wave of opposition to the lower-yield W76-2 nuclear warhead the Navy deployed last year crested Wednesday, when five senators asked Secretary of Defense Mark Esper what the Pentagon might use the weapon for, and which civilian nuclear projects had to be postponed to build it. “It is inconsistent for the United States to […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is seeking $53 million in fiscal 2021 for the planned W93 sea-based ballistic-missile warhead: two years sooner than the agency previously thought it would need funding for the weapon. A spokesperson for the semiautonomous Department of Energy nuclear weapons agency confirmed the figure Thursday morning. In the 2020 budget […]

The Defense Department’s top policy director submitted a letter of resignation Wednesday, saying he will leave his post at the end of the month and stating plainly that his departure was prompted by President Donald Trump. Undersecretary of Defense for Policy John Rood assumed his role in August 2018, and will be succeeded by James […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is seeking $53 million in fiscal 2021 for the planned W93 sea-based ballistic-missile warhead: two years sooner than the agency previously thought it would need funding for the weapon. A spokesperson for the semiautonomous Department of Energy nuclear weapons agency confirmed the figure Thursday morning. In the 2020 budget […]

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — After delays attributed to unsuitable electrical components, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) now plans to manufacture the first refurbished B61-12 nuclear gravity bomb and W88 Alt-370 submarine-launched ballistic-missile warhead in 2022 and 2021, respectively, a senior agency official said here Tuesday. The B61-12 first production unit was once forecast to finish […]

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) made post-Cold War history in its 2021 budget request this week, requesting funds to develop a new sea-based nuclear warhead designated Mk7 W93 — a weapon designed to be rapidly upgradeable and serviced outside of the Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas. This will be the first […]

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — After delays attributed to unsuitable electrical components, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) now plans to manufacture the first refurbished B61-12 nuclear gravity bomb and W88 Alt-370 submarine-launched ballistic-missile warhead in 2022 and 2021, respectively, a senior agency official said here Tuesday. That would mean a one- to two-year delay for both […]

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The directors of the Department of Energy’s Los Alamos and Lawrence Livermore national laboratories on Tuesday each declined to say whether their shop would design the planned sea-based W93 nuclear warhead. Asked which of the two nuclear weapons design labs would handle the W93, if Congress approves it, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) made post-Cold War history in its 2021 budget request, which seeks funds to develop a new sea-based nuclear warhead designated Mk7 W93 — a weapon designed to be rapidly upgradeable and serviced outside of the civilian agency’s Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas.  This will be the first new warhead […]

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 two” W76-2 warheads […]

The Air Force launched an unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile in the early morning hours on Wednesday, testing a new fuse that would set off the nuclear warhead tipping that weapon, as well as its planned successor. The Air Force development test launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California happened one year from the […]

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 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 […]

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, […]

The U.S. Air Force officially ended the B52-H’s mission to carry nuclear gravity bombs late last year, according to an updated operating military manual making the rounds online this week. Air Force Instruction 91-111, dated Sept. 5, calls for “removal of B61-7 and B83-1 from B-52H approved weapons configuration.” Hans Kristensen, the Washington-based director of […]