{"id":58776,"date":"2019-09-15T11:00:59","date_gmt":"2019-09-15T11:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2019\/09\/15\/decades-late-the-b-52-is-getting-a-new-nuclear-weapon\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T00:20:46","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T00:20:46","slug":"decades-late-the-b-52-is-getting-a-new-nuclear-weapon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/smr\/global-strike\/2019\/09\/15\/decades-late-the-b-52-is-getting-a-new-nuclear-weapon\/","title":{"rendered":"Decades late, the B-52 is getting a new nuclear weapon"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">BARKSDALE AIR FORCE BASE, La., and WASHINGTON \u2014 The B-52 bomber first flew in 1952, but remains a vital part of America\u2019s nuclear deterrent. Now, to keep the bomber relevant for its nuclear mission, the U.S. Air Force is preparing to spend billions of dollars to develop a new <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/air\/2016\/07\/29\/air-force-kicks-off-competitions-for-two-critical-nuclear-programs\/\" target=_blank>air-launched cruise missile<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The B-52\u2019s nuclear option of choice is the AGM-86B air-launched cruise missile, commonly referred to as the ALCM. Fully loaded, the B-52 can carry 20 of the weapons. But like the plane that launches them, the weapons are on the older side, having been produced in the early to mid-1980s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cA lot of this stuff predates the airmen I have working on &#8217;em,\u201d said Senior Master Sgt. Daniel Abrams-Trust, the cruise missile flight chief for the 2nd Munitions Squadron at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana. Interviews at Barksdale were conducted by journalist and Defense News contributor Jeff Bolton.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cSo while it was extremely sophisticated at the time, it\u2019s fallen out of favor. Some of that technology\u2019s requiring service-life extensions where we identify maybe some high-failure areas, things that we need to replace,\u201d Abrams-Trust said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/smr\/global-strike\/\" target=_blank><b>Click here for videos and more coverage of the B-52 and the B-2.<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The ALCM \u201chad an initial service life of 10 years,\u201d Abrams-Trust added. \u201cIt was really only meant to go to early to mid-&#8217;90s, be replaced by the advanced cruise missile. And while we fielded that, advanced cruise missile had some challenges logistically, maintenance was difficult. So we\u2019ve pushed through the ALCM even further.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lockheed Martin and Raytheon are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/air\/2017\/08\/23\/lockheed-raytheon-nab-contracts-for-nuclear-cruise-missile\/\" target=_blank>currently on contract<\/a> for $900 million as part of a four-and-a-half-year technology-maturation and risk-reduction phase to design the new weapon (the full cost of the heavily classified program is unknown). In fiscal 2022, the Air Force plans to choose between the designs. The service intends to integrate the weapon with its nuclear-capable bombers \u2014 the B-52, B-2 and B-21 \u2014 with initial fielding slated for the late 2020s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Along with the newly designed ALCM is a newly designed warhead, known as the W80-4, currently in the early design stages with the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/smr\/federal-budget\/2019\/03\/11\/trump-budget-increases-nuclear-weapons-agency-funding-amidst-new-production\/\" target=\"_blank\">National Nuclear Security Administration<\/a>. Because the warhead is being designed at the same time as the delivery system \u2014 the first time in 30 years the two projects have been done in parallel \u2014 the program faces \u201cunique\u201d risks, according to NNSA\u2019s most recent annual report to Congress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The first production unit of the W80-4 is expected to be delivered in FY25, with completion of the production run by FY31. Costs are expected to range between $6.7 billion and $10.3 billion between FY18 and FY32; however, the warhead program experienced \u201ca loss of $120 million in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/smr\/2018\/11\/02\/heres-when-all-of-americas-new-nuclear-warhead-designs-will-be-active-and-how-much-theyll-cost\/\" target=_blank>productivity due to delays<\/a> associated with Continuing Resolutions since the beginning of FY 2016,\u201d according to the NNSA report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For a few years, it looked like the LRSO program might be in for a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/digital-show-dailies\/air-force-association\/2017\/09\/19\/new-nuclear-cruise-missile-program-appears-safe-going-forward\/\" target=\"_blank\">rough ride from congressional Democrats<\/a>. But the introduction of even <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/space\/2018\/02\/02\/the-us-could-be-getting-2-new-nuclear-capabilities-here-are-the-details\/\" target=\"_blank\">newer nuclear weapon systems<\/a> through the 2018 Nuclear Posture Review appears to have taken the heat off the new cruise missile. And for advocates of the air-based leg of the nuclear triad, keeping the B-52 as up to date as possible is a good thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhen we say nuclear modernization, we are merely replacing the current triad. We are not expanding our capabilities, we\u2019re not violating a treaty, we\u2019re not developing a new capability. It\u2019s a very reasonable response to the threat,\u201d Robert Soofer, deputy assistant secretary of defense for nuclear and missile defense policy, said during the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/smr\/defense-news-conference\/\" target=_blank>2019 Defense News Conference<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With Russia and China modernizing their nuclear arsenals, and the U.S. engaged in what the Pentagon has termed as a renewal of \u201cgreat power competition,\u201d Soofer described the overall nuclear modernization efforts as \u201csensible,&#8221; \u201creasonable\u201d and \u201caffordable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But keeping the nuclear deterrent viable doesn\u2019t just involve technology, noted Lt. Col. James Daily, deputy commander of the 2nd Operations Group at Barksdale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe bomber is that flexible, visible and recallable arm of the triad, and one of the things that we&#8217;re looking at is how do we do [operations] better everyday based on the environment,\u201d Daily said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cBack in the day, it was a two-player game during the Cold War. Now you\u2019ve got multiple players, different environments and different considerations to include. We talk about extended deterrents for allies and things like that, so how do we better posture the force, is what we\u2019re look at everyday.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>To keep the B-52 bomber relevant for its nuclear mission, the U.S. Air Force is preparing to spend billions of dollars to develop a new air-launched cruise 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