Staff Reports
The United States is making a new nuclear warhead, called the W93, for the first time in 40 years. The warhead will be used on submarine-launched ballistic missiles and is being built with $19.8 billion requested by the National Nuclear Security Agency (NNSA) for weapons in fiscal 2025. This effort is part of the Pentagon’s top priority to modernize nuclear forces, with the Navy’s nuclear-missile submarines playing a key role.
The United States is building the first new nuclear warhead in 40 years but will do so without nuclear testing, the Energy Department officials told Congress. https://t.co/nPFgMjPAIy
— The Washington Times (@WashTimes) April 18, 2024
The W93 warhead, which is being developed at Los Alamos National Laboratory, is expected to be ready for production in the mid-2030s. It will have modern technologies, improved safety, security, and flexibility to address future threats. The warhead will also be lighter than the current ones, allowing for greater missile ranges.
In addition to the new warhead, the Department of Energy is modernizing five existing warhead types under a funding request of $2.84 billion. One of these modernizations includes the B61-12 life extension program, a nuclear gravity bomb dropped by aircraft.
Despite these efforts, the Biden administration did not request funds for the new submarine-launched cruise missile-nuclear in the current budget. The Nuclear Weapons Council ordered the development of the new warhead to be sped up, and the funds requested for it aim to achieve that.
The W93 warhead is based on existing designs and will not require new underground nuclear explosive testing. The United States is adhering to a nuclear testing moratorium, despite the Senate rejecting the proposed Nuclear Test Ban Treaty in 1999.
The plutonium pits for the W93 warhead will be produced at the Savannah River National Laboratory in South Carolina. The warhead is being built with assistance from the British government, which will also be deploying the weapon.
This new development comes amid growing concerns about China’s nuclear capabilities. China has doubled its nuclear warhead stockpile and has begun deploying multi-warhead intercontinental ballistic missiles. Adm. Charles Richard, who was the first nuclear forces commander to sound the alarm on China’s nuclear growth, had requested the W93 warhead before retiring in January 2023.
Overall, the United States is focusing on modernizing its nuclear forces to meet future adversary threats and enhance operational effectiveness.
