President Joe Biden (D) on Tuesday nominated Air Force Major General Mark Pye to take command of the Air Force Nuclear Systems Center in New Mexico as a lieutenant general.
Pye, whose promotion requires Senate approval, is currently the director of programs at the office of the deputy chief of staff for plans and programs at the Pentagon, according to his biography on the Air Force website. He has flown B-2 and B-52 aircraft and has a bachelor’s degree in political science from the U.S. Air Force Academy.
The Air Force Nuclear Systems Center, formerly the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center, interfaces with the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) to help sync development of the civilian agency’s nuclear warheads and bombs with the military’s acquisition of the aircraft and missile that would if necessary deliver the weapons to targets.
The NNSA’s Air Force nuclear weapons modernization programs include: the B61-12 life extension, which is producing modernized gravity bombs at the Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas; the W87-1 intercontinental ballistic missile warhead for future Sentinel missiles; and the W80-4 life extension program, a cruise missile warhead. The latter two are still in development.
Editor’s note, Dec. 04, 2024, 7:43 a.m. Eastern time. The story was changed to include the correct proposed rank for Pye.