U.S. Has Begun Making A New Low-Yield Nuclear Warhead For Its Trident Missiles

The W76-2 will be launched aboard Trident II D5 missiles. (Ronald Gutridge/U.S. Navy)

The Guardian: US nuclear weapons: first low-yield warheads roll off the production line

New type of weapon, ordered by Trump’s nuclear posture review, could make conflict more likely, say experts.

The US has begun making a new, low-yield nuclear warhead for its Trident missiles that arms control advocates warn could lower the threshold for a nuclear conflict.

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) announced in an email it had started manufacturing the weapon at its Pantex nuclear weapons plant in Texas, as ordered by Donald Trump’s nuclear posture review (NPR) last year.

The NNSA said the first of the new warheads had come off the production line and that it was on schedule to deliver the first batch – an unspecified number referred to as “initial operational capability” – before the end of September, according to the email, first sent in response to an enquiry from Exchange Monitor, which covers the nuclear weapons complex.

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