US will build its first new nuclear warhead in 40 years with multi-billion ... trends now
The Pentagon is preparing to build its first new nuclear warhead in 40 years as a means to 'keep pace with future adversary threats' as tensions continue to grow worldwide.
The W93 warhead, which will be designed to be launched from submarines, is part of a $19.3 billion budget being requested by the National Nuclear Security Agency in 2025. The production is set to begin in the mid 2030s.
The revelation came as part of prepared remarks from Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm and NNSA Administrator Jill Hruby in a Senate testimony this week.
Feasibility studies on the W93 have been underway at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, the birthplace of the atomic bomb, since 2022. All U.S. warheads begin life there in a plutonium pit that was built by engineers in the 1980s.
The new warhead is based on existing designs and therefore will not need to be tested before being put into action. President George H.W. Bush signed an order in the 1990s banning underground nuclear tests.
The W93 will be carried on Navy's new Columbia-class submarines as well as the existing Ohio-class, shown here. The new ships that cost a total of $109.8 billion
An unarmed D5 missile is launched from the USS West Virginia
The program is being undertaken in parallel with the United Kingdom's Replacement Warhead program continuing our coordination through the U.S.-U.K. Mutual Defense Agreement,' Granholm said.
The W93 will be carried on Navy's new Columbia-class submarines as well as the existing Ohio-class. The new ships, 12 in total, will cost $109.8 billion.
Among the warhead's more sophisticated features is insensitive high explosives used for triggering. It will also have a greater range than the current W76 and W88 warheads.
In addition to the W93, the DOD will spend nearly $3 billion on on modernizing other warheads currently in the military's arsenal.
The U.S. will spend more than $750 billion over the next 10 years replacing almost every component of its nuclear defenses, including new stealth bombers, submarines and
