The National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) Y-12 National Security Complex announced the “diamond-stamping” of a secondary stage of a nuclear weapon through the W80-4 Life Extension Program, the agency announced Sept. 25.
“Diamond-stamping,” as the release calls it, refers to marking a product as war-reserve quality, or reliable and safe to use in a nuclear weapon. It is named after the physical process of applying a diamond-shaped mark to the component to model succeeding components after it.
The secondary stage, or the canned subassembly (CSA), plants the seeds for the first production unit of the primary stage. For example, when the first production unit of the B61-13 gravity bomb was completed in May, the CSA for that bomb was completed in February. Similar to the B61-13, the agency’s release said the W80-4 life extension and modernization program is reusing and remanufacturing components from older warheads to accelerate production.
The completed W80-4 CSA will now go to the Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas, for final assembly.
“This is the latest instance of NNSA accelerating the delivery of modernized warheads to meet pressing deterrence needs,” David Hoagland, acting deputy administrator for Defense Programs, said in the release. “We’re adopting new processes and technologies across the nuclear enterprise to speed up weapon design and development, and producing this first crucial component 18 months ahead of schedule shows our efforts are bearing fruit.
According to NNSA’s stockpile stewardship and management plan for fiscal 2025, which was released early last October, the W80-4 program would complete its final design reviews by fiscal year 2025, which began Oct. 1. The stockpile stewardship plan also said the first production unit of the W80-4 would be complete in fiscal 2027. The release by NNSA said September 2027 is still the expected timeline for the first production unit of the full warhead.
Boeing’s B-52H will be the first aircraft to carry the Raytheon Long Range Standoff (LRSO) Missile, which eventually will fly aboard the B-21 Raider bomber that Northrop Grumman is building. NNSA is refurbishing the W80-4 warhead, through its life extension program, to tip the LRSO once completed.
“NNSA is delivering modernized warheads to America’s warfighters 100% on time or ahead of schedule, ensuring that our deterrent remains unparalleled in reliability and effectiveness,” Hoagland added.