The United States began deploying a new type of low-power nuclear warhead aboard some ballistic missile submarines. This is stated in a statement published on Wednesday by the Federation of American Scientists.
“Currently, the US Navy has deployed a new type of [modernized] W76-2 low-power warheads on a Trident ballistic missile submarine”, – the author of the article, director of nuclear-related information projects, Hans Christensen said, citing a source in American government.
He emphasized that the Ohio-class Tennessee strategic submarine went on patrol in the last weeks of last year with one or two new-type warheads.
“Apparently, now it is still [on patrol], it is expected to return sometime in February”, – the expert added. According to him, in the Pacific Ocean a second submarine also carries out patrolling, on board of which there are new type warheads.
The Pentagon declined to comment on TASS expert information.
“The US policy is not to confirm or refute the presence or absence of nuclear weapons anywhere. In this regard, we cannot confirm or refute this message at present”, – the Defense Ministry Press Service said.
Last November, the head of the US Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration at the Department of Energy, Lisa Gordon-Hagerty, reported that the agency she led had already produced a “secret amount” of upgraded low-power warheads W76 (type W76-2) that were designed to be installed on sea-based ballistic missiles. In addition, as stated in the country’s Ministry of Energy, in November last year they were transferred to the US Navy.
About the new warhead
In March 2019, Rick Perry, the then U.S. Secretary of Energy, argued that his country needed to modernize its nuclear potential, as nuclear threats from nations such as Russia and China were growing. Among the priority tasks in this direction, he singled out the program for the modernization of American warheads W76-2.
Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that the production of the W76-2 warhead by the United States lowers the threshold for the use of atomic weapons and increases the risk of a nuclear conflict.
According to American experts, the new warhead has a capacity of 5-6 kilotons, while the power of the W76-1, created in the 1970s, is 100 kilotons.