US Cranks up Tensions by Modernizing its Nuclear Weapon Program

The US is reviewing ways to adjust its nuclear posture, acting US Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy Vipin Narang said earlier this month, justifying the move with typical insinuations about Russia’s nuclear policy.

Washington is planning to revamp its nuclear arsenal on the pretext of threats from Russia.

Driving the narrative of nuclear security challenges allegedly emanating from Russia and in China and “changing the threat landscape,” Jill Hruby, US Under Secretary for Nuclear Security, laid out the details of the country’s nuclear weapon modernization program.

The National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) administrator claimed there was a “fundamentally different nuclear landscape than in the past” to justify investment and development plans at the National Institute for Deterrence Studies Peace Through Strength Breakfast on July 30.

The NNSA has requested a 2025 budget of $25 billion, including:

●$21B to design, build, and sustain nuclear weapon stockpile,

●$2B to advance nuclear non-proliferation,

●$2B to develop nuclear propulsion systems for the US Navy.

The US nuclear weapon modernization program will include complete replacement of all components and designs with new military objectives, Hruby said.

The agency already delivered over 200 modernized nuclear weapons to the Department of Defense in 2023. The largest one-year delivery since the end of the Cold War was made possible based on investments made by the Obama, Trump and Biden Administrations, it added.

The NNSA is modernizing the nuclear stockpile across the nuclear triad at once. New weapons systems are meant to be designed and in production by the mid-2030s — and ambitious schedule.

●The W88 Alteration (Alt) 370 Program aims to bring the nuclear warheads for the US Navy’s Trident II D5 Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missile (SLBM) system up to modern safety and reliability standards.

●The B61-12 Life Extension Program (LEP) will replace the B61-3, 4 and 7 free-fall nuclear bombs and make them be compatible with newer aircraft.

●The B61-13 will be produced by modifying some B61-12s at the end of production and will provide an option similar to the B61-7. The first of the B61-13 is anticipated in 2026.

●The NNSA is extending the life of the W80-1 warhead for the US Air Force’s (USAF) Long Range Standoff (LRSO) Cruise Missile through the W80-4 Life Extension Program (LEP). Production of the first W80-1 is scheduled for September 2027.

●The W87-1 Modification Program will replace the aging W78 warhead for the land-based Minuteman III ICBM leg of the nuclear triad. It is scheduled to begin production in Fiscal Year 2031 or 2032.

●A new nuclear warhead — the W93 — is intended for deployment on US ballistic missile submarines by 2040. Production is planned to start in the mid-2030s.

●The Sea-Launched Cruise Missile – Nuclear (SLCM-N), authorized in the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act, will give a low-yield, non-ballistic capability to the Navy. The first operational deployment is planned for 2034.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov warned on Sunday that escalation by the US and the West would force Moscow to take steps to strengthen its own nuclear deterrence,.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, speaking at the plenary session of the SPIEF in June, did not rule out that the country’s nuclear doctrine would have to be adjusted. He said changes had been made necessary by the West lowering the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons.

The president pointed out that Russia is constantly accused of brandishing the ‘nuclear stick’, but the conditions for Moscow’s use of such weapons was clearly set out in its nuclear doctrine. He also warned against not only to the use, but to the threat of the use of nuclear weapons.