{"id":24310,"date":"2019-03-11T18:18:25","date_gmt":"2019-03-11T18:18:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/03\/11\/trump-budget-increases-nuclear-weapons-agency-funding-amidst-new-production\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T22:37:37","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T22:37:37","slug":"trump-budget-increases-nuclear-weapons-agency-funding-amidst-new-production","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/congress\/budget\/2019\/03\/11\/trump-budget-increases-nuclear-weapons-agency-funding-amidst-new-production\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump budget increases funding for nuclear weapons agency amid new production"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Jeff Martin breaks down five things that Defense News learned from the Pentagon’s fiscal 2020 defense budget request.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 The National Nuclear Security Administration<\/a> will receive an 8.3 percent increase over its current budget, with an eye on completing production of a new low-yield nuclear missile this upcoming fiscal year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The NNSA, a semiautonomous agency within the Department of Energy that has oversight on America\u2019s nuclear weapons stockpile, is requiring $16.5 billion in the fiscal 2020 budget<\/a>, up $1.3 billion from its FY19 total<\/a>. Weapons-related activities would see an allocation of $12.4 billion, an 11.8 percent increase over how much funding went to that mission in FY19. NNSA\u2019s proposed budget comprises 52 percent of the DOE\u2019s total budget request.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe President\u2019s budget request reflects the Trump Administration\u2019s strong commitment to ensuring that U.S. nuclear capabilities are second to none,\u201d NNSA Administrator Lisa Gordon-Hagerty in a statement. \u201cThis vital funding will enable us to continue modernization of the Nuclear Security Enterprise to face 21st century threats.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Click here for more coverage of the FY20 budget rollout!<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The agency has five major modernization programs underway<\/a>: life extensions of the B61-12 gravity bomb; W80-4 warhead design for the Air Force\u2019s long-range standoff weapon; W88 Alteration 370 for the Trident II ballistic missile; and the W87-1 Modification Program for intercontinental ballistic missile warheads. The fifth program is the W76-2 modification, perhaps the most controversial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A low-yield nuclear warhead that the Trump administration first introduced as a requirement with the Nuclear Posture Review at the start of 2018, the W76-2 is moving along quickly. In January, the NNSA announced production had begun on the first unit; the budget documents released March 11 state that the system \u201ccompletes development and production\u201d in FY20.<\/p>\n\n\n\t