While the nuclear-armed, sea-launched cruise missile (SLCM-N) was not in the White House fiscal 2027 budget request, Brandon Williams, head of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), said it has administration support.
“The funding from the reconciliation process is carrying the project forward at pace,” Williams said. “We’re ahead of schedule, and we’re going to be able to deliver a warhead, W80-5, ahead of the Navy’s needs. We’re on track.”
Williams also confirmed he expected to “seek resources for SLCM-N in FY ‘28.”
The W80-5 program was announced at Exchange Monitor’s Nuclear Deterrence Summit in January as a new variant of the W80 warhead family that would go on SLCM-N. SLCM-N is a planned missile system that would be deployed on the Virginia-class submarines, and on the potential future Trump-class warships.
Congress had ordered that SLCM-N be developed by the Navy and use a W80-4 variant, but in a 2024 congressional testimony, Jill Hruby, then-administrator of NNSA, said the agency needed $70 million in funding for the sea-launched W80-4. However, Hruby also testified that year that the agency would look into alternatives to the W80-4 that might “be simpler to do without disrupting our current production flow.”