{"id":26407,"date":"2018-02-02T19:30:32","date_gmt":"2018-02-02T19:30:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2018\/02\/02\/the-us-could-be-getting-2-new-nuclear-capabilities-here-are-the-details\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T22:12:39","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T22:12:39","slug":"the-us-could-be-getting-2-new-nuclear-capabilities-here-are-the-details","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/smr\/nuclear-triad\/2018\/02\/02\/the-us-could-be-getting-2-new-nuclear-capabilities-here-are-the-details\/","title":{"rendered":"The US could be getting 2 new nuclear capabilities. Here are the details."},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WASHINGTON \u2015 The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/space\/2018\/01\/12\/nuclear-posture-review-draft-leaks-new-weapons-coming-amid-strategic-shift\/\" title=\"\" class=\"selected-link\" target=\"_blank\" data-original-title=\"\" aria-describedby=\"popover16155\">Nuclear Posture Review<\/a>, <span class=\"js-paste-start-MHZPIHJXARACBKJV76BGIZFYGM\">formally <span class=\"js-paste-end-MHZPIHJXARACBKJV76BGIZFYGM\">unveiled Friday, recommends adding a low-yield warhead for submarine-launched ballistic missiles, as well as the addition of a nuclear-capable submarine-launched cruise missile to America\u2019s arsenal.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The question now becomes when these capabilities will come online \u2015 and how much they will cost at a time when the Pentagon is restrained by congressionally mandated budget caps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Before the addition of these new capabilities, the U.S. was preparing to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/breaking-news\/2017\/10\/31\/americas-nuclear-weapons-will-cost-12-trillion-over-the-next-30-years\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\">spend $1.2 trillion<\/a> over the next 30 years to modernize the nuclear arsenal, including the delivery systems, warhead, and command and control network. And the now-retired head of the National Nuclear Security Administration told <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/space\/2018\/01\/23\/as-trump-seeks-new-nuke-options-weapons-agency-head-warns-of-capacity-overload\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\">Defense News weeks ago<\/a> that his agency is \u201cat capacity\u201d with the work it has already been assigned to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Robert Soofer, deputy assistant secretary of defense for nuclear and missile defense policy, said the question of logistics and funding was \u201csquarely in our thinking\u201d when looking at the new capabilities. But Greg Weaver, deputy director for strategic stability on the Joint Staff J5, said the reality is that details for acquiring the new systems still need to be worked out.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/space\/2018\/02\/02\/nuclear-posture-review-puts-russia-firmly-in-crosshairs\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"203\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/SSBN_Resize.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Nuclear Posture Review puts Russia firmly in crosshairs<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">America is preparing to introduce new nuclear capabilities to counter what is sees as Russian doctrine.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe NPR doesn\u2019t get into system engineering, so the department has a very well-laid out process for identifying the specific operational military requirements for additional capabilities,\u201d Weaver said. \u201cWe don\u2019t know what that would cost because we don\u2019t know how we\u2019re going to do it yet. Specifically you can\u2019t cost it out until you know the approach you\u2019re taking technically and the cost of operations, etc. And that\u2019s all going to go through our normal process. \u201c<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Here\u2019s what we know about the two new systems:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><b>Low-yield warhead for sub-launched ballistic missile<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The NPR calls for a \u201cnear-term\u201d solution, in which the National Nuclear Security Administration would modify a small number of existing submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) warheads to turn them into low-yield weapons. The agency is already in the process of doing a life-extension on the W76 warheads for those weapons, something Soofer noted should help keep the cost and schedule down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAll this would require us to reserve the last X number, tens of warheads, and instead of doing a full [life extension], do the primary only. It doesn\u2019t require additional capacity,\u201d Soofer said of developing the capability. On the Navy side, the service would \u201cjust take that warhead and make sure they can qualify\u201d and SLBM on a sub.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">By \u201clow-yield,\u201d Soofer said he means smaller than the weapon detonated at Hiroshima, which instantly vaporized an estimated 60,000-80,000 people. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While noting it was a rough guess on cost, Soofer said he thought the Defense Department\u2019s portion of the cost would perhaps be $50 million over five years. The question then becomes one of how many low-yield warheads would be desired, and Soofer stressed that the number they are envisioning is quite low.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"810\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/SSBN_Resize.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-58676\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/SSBN_Resize.jpg.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/SSBN_Resize.jpg.jpg?resize=300,203 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/SSBN_Resize.jpg.jpg?resize=768,518 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/SSBN_Resize.jpg.jpg?resize=1024,691 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The Pentagon wants to put new types of nuclear weapons onto ballistic missile submarines to help counter Russia, according to the Nuclear Posture Review. (U.S. Navy\/Specialist 1st Class Amanda R. Gray)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThis is, again, a very limited, niche capability,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is not a major war-fighting capability. If we\u2019re talking about firing tens of these, you\u2019re in a different realm. The idea is to have one or two or just a few to address\u201d the potential threat from Russia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But the idea of mixing strategic and tactical nuclear warheads on one ballistic missile submarine creates the potential for a \u201cdiscrimination problem,\u201d said Vipin Narang, an associate professor of political science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who focuses on nuclear proliferation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cVery simply, how is an adversary supposed to know if the [ballistic] missile headed its way has a single low-yield nuclear weapon or a full complement of eight 475-kiloton strategic nuclear warheads? These things are not color-coded,\u201d he said. \u201cThey would have no way of being able to detect or discriminate what was on even a single SLBM launch, let alone several.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cEven if we were using just a single low-yield warhead on a single SLBM, the adversary literally cannot know that and has to assume we have escalated to the strategic level,\u201d Narang added. \u201cEspecially if that adversary worries about the survivability of its own forces, its only rational move is to launch everything it has.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><b>Submarine-launched, nuclear-capable cruise missile<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The NPR calls for a new sea-launched cruise missile, something the Navy had in its inventory until just a few years ago. The review orders an analysis of alternatives to look at the options, though Soofter noted this weapon will be \u201cmore labor- and cost-intensive\u201d than the ballistic missile warhead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The NPR calls for the design to leverage existing capabilities to keep cost and schedule down. Soofer jumped on that idea, noting the Air Force is in the process of designing its new nuclear cruise missile, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/digital-show-dailies\/air-force-association\/2017\/09\/19\/new-nuclear-cruise-missile-program-appears-safe-going-forward\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\">Long Range Standoff Weapon<\/a>, or LRSO, and speculating that provides a base with which to work.<\/p>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-smg-jwplayer-video\"><atype-video-jwplayer nostick=\"true\" playlisturl=\"https:\/\/cdn.jwplayer.com\/v2\/playlists\/fCzRqMW8?tags=7c575264-a3b2-4f9d-896b-bf51919c9964\" poster=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/video-poster-7c575264-a3b2-4f9d-896b-bf51919c9964.jpg\" aspectratio=\"16 \/ 9\" mute autostart=\"false\"><\/atype-video-jwplayer><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">When it comes to nuclear requirements, &#8220;anticipate and think ahead,&#8221; recommends former U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel. (Jeff Martin and Dustin Q. Diaz\/Staff)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u2018\u201cWe\u2019re already doing a warhead for the Long Range Standoff Weapon. It\u2019s going to be a version of the W80 warhead. So you [could potentially] just increase that production run and do more of those and put them into this new sea-launched cruise missile,\u201d Soofer said. \u201cMaybe the LRSO is actually the airframe and you can adjust that for cruise missile surface ship launch, maybe you can do some version of the Tomahawk.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Part of the analysis will look at whether the weapons could be placed on surface ships, submarines or both, Soofer added, before noting: \u201cThis thing is seven to 10 years out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Notably, Weaver broached the idea that the SLCM could be used as a carrot to Russia to move back underneath the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/space\/2017\/03\/08\/us-general-says-russia-has-deployed-banned-missile\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\">Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWere Russia to agree to return to verifiable arms control measures to address that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/space\/2018\/01\/12\/russias-nuclear-underwater-drone-is-real-and-in-the-nuclear-posture-review\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\">imbalance in nonstrategic nuclear forces<\/a>, the U.S. might agree to limit or forgo [acquiring] a nuclear SLCM,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is a response to Russian expansion of their capability and the nature of their strategy and doctrine. The United States is not arms racing. We are responding to Russian initiative.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Pentagon wants to put two new nuclear capabilities into the Navy. Here&#8217;s what you need to know.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":58673,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":125,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":{"2":{"categories":["pentagon-congress","news"],"primary_category":"pentagon-congress"},"4":{"categories":["pentagon-congress","news","daily-news-roundup","newsletters"],"primary_category":"pentagon-congress"},"7":{"categories":["pentagon-congress","news","daily-news-roundup","newsletters"],"primary_category":"pentagon-congress"}}},"categories":[160,11,16,36,125,19,23,30,48],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3378],"class_list":["post-26407","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-global","category-naval","category-newsletters","category-nuclear-triad","category-pentagon","category-space","category-smr","category-the-americas"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"7QZ2FRTT6ZD7DDVGTBWOZLDLJI","arc_canonical_url":"\/space\/2018\/02\/02\/the-us-could-be-getting-2-new-nuclear-capabilities-here-are-the-details\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The US could be getting 2 new nuclear capabilities. 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