According to the British Daily Mail website reported on April 19, as the global tension continued to intensify, the Pentagon is preparing to develop its first nuclear warhead for 40 years to"Follow the footsteps of the future opponent's threat."
It is reported that this W93 warhead will adopt a submerged design, which is one of the $ 19.3 billion budgets applied for by the National Nuclear Safety Administration.The production of the warhead will be launched in the mid -1930s.
This news comes from the US Energy Minister Jennifer Grandhom and the Director of the National Nuclear Safety Administration Gil Hoghrubi, preparing for the recent testimony of the Senate.
Since 2022, the National Laboratory of Los Alamos, located in New Mexico, has been conducting the feasibility study of W93, which is also the birthplace of atomic bombs.
The new nuclear warhead will be based on the existing design, so there is no need to conduct nuclear tests before they are put into use.
Grandhom said: "The project is carried out at the same time with the British nuclear warhead replacement project, and continues to coordinate through the United States and Britain's joint defense agreement."
TheW93 warhead will be equipped with the new "Colombia" class submarine and the existing "Ohio" class submarine.The "Columbia" class will be built with a total of 12 ships, which is expected to cost $ 109.8 billion.The W93 warhead has some more advanced performance, including the use of blunt high -energy explosives.Its range will also be farther, exceeding the current W76 and W88 warheads.In addition to W93, the Ministry of National Defense will also invest nearly $ 3 billion to modernize other nuclear warheads in the US military weapon library.
The United States will spend more than 750 billion US dollars in the next 10 years, updating almost all components of its nuclear defense system, including new invisible bombers, submarines and land -based intercontinental ballistic missiles.This is the most ambitious nuclear weapon plan in the United States since the Manhattan plan.
It has been nearly 80 years since the last war of nuclear weapons in the war.But the US military leaders warned that such peace may not last.They said that the United States has entered an era of anxiety that is full of "global threats", and old weapons in the United States need to update the replacement to operate normally.
Marvin Adams, director of the US Department of Energy's weapon project, said in 2023: "Unless there is nuclear deterrence as a basis, there is nothing in our toolbox that can really make opponents jealous."
According to the treaty, the United States has 1550 active nuclear warheads, and the government plans to modernize them all.At the same time, technicians, scientists, and military missile staff must ensure that the old weapons can operate normally until the new weapons are in place.
This new plan has caused criticism of nuclear non -diffusion activists and experts.They said that although the current nuclear facilities are old, they are enough to meet the needs of the United States, and upgrading it will cost huge.
Darrican Kim Bail, Executive Director of the Army Reserve Control Association, said in 2023: "It is extremely difficult to complete the upgrade as scheduled. Moreover, the cost will rise." He warned that comprehensive upgrade and transformation may have adverse effects.Promote Russia and China to improve and expand its arsenal.(Compilation/Juli)