Saturday, September 7, 2019

U.S. Nuclear Upgrades Face New Delays

The B61-12 nuclear gravity bomb modernization program is facing new delays. (U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration)

Defense News: Nuclear gravity bomb and warhead upgrades face new delays

WASHINGTON ― The United States’ B61-12 nuclear gravity bomb may face an 18 month delay during production, with the W88 submarine-launched ballistic missile warhead facing a shorter delay, a top National Nuclear Security Administration official confirmed Wednesday.

The B61-12 life-extension program consolidates and replaces the older B61-3, -4, -7 and -10 variants, while the W88 Alteration 370 is meant to replace the arming, fuzing and firing subsystem for the W88 warhead for the Trident II sub-launched ballistic missile. The two are among five major modernization programs underway at the agency.

Both had been due for production in 2020, but neither will have their first production units delivered on time, according to Charles Verdon, the National Nuclear Security Administration’s deputy administrator for defense programs. NNSA is working with the Defense Department to minimize the delays, but Congress has been informed both will be ready “roughly around the same time,” Verdon said at the at the 2019 Defense News Conference.

Read more ....

WNU Editor:  No one said it was going to be cheap or easy.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

The picture is so wrong. Notice the cardinalsales ad right in front? And what is that laptop connected to, the nuke? Okkay cool. .Standard plugs..cool cool. .but what about the tripping hazard. .the rope in the back of the pic?like wtf is this supposed to be a riddle? :D

Anonymous said...

And the inaccuracy of the tape markers gives me the creeps. If you record this stroboscope-style you better improve your precision by quite a lot.. and wouldn't you wear some kind of anti radiation and anti glare/electric discharge gloves? ....I'm sure others will find more in this pic of horrors

Anonymous said...

you do not show classified materials for the public but use a photo merely to call attention to the story...dumb remarks about authenticity of photo.
Ever see pictures of dinasaurs? think they are not real too. wonder why they do not show real dinasaur pictures

Anonymous said...

Yeah why don't they ever show real dinosaurs photos? And, Mr. smarty pants, why did the original poster put a :D at the end (!) of his post? Ohhh what was the intent? Might it have been humour, that thing that eludes my authistic friend here? ;) uhhhh another one! This one looks a bit differentyyyy ^^ omg they keep coming