The U.S. military has deployed a new addition to its nuclear arsenal — a long-range missile armed with a nuclear warhead of reduced destructive power. The so-called low-yield missile joins more powerful weapons aboard stealthy submarines.
The U.S. military has deployed a new addition to its nuclear arsenal — a long-range missile armed with a nuclear warhead of reduced destructive power. The so-called low-yield missile joins other, more powerful weapons aboard stealthy submarines prowling the oceans.
John Rood, the undersecretary of Defense for policy, said in an AP interview Monday that adding the low-yield warhead, known as the W76-2, to submarines that tote Trident II ballistic missiles lowers the risk of nuclear war. He said the United States will continue its stated policy of using nuclear weapons only in “extraordinary circumstances.” He also said the warhead will help the United States dissuade Russia from risking launching a limited nuclear conflict.
The essence of critics’ argument against the low-yield weapon is that it makes the world less safe because it offers decision-makers another option for using a nuclear weapon in a conflict that could then escalate to a full-blown nuclear war. They also contend that lower-yield air-launched nuclear weapons already in the U.S. arsenal make the W76-2 redundant.
The newly deployed warhead was produced by modifying the W76. Last February the administration said it expected to have the new version ready for use by late 2019. Rood noted that deploying the new lower-yield missiles has not increased the total number of American weapons under the New START limits because each of the warheads replaces one of the more powerful versions that had been exclusively deployed aboard the subs.
“Instead of using small numbers of tactical nukes to frighten the U.S. and NATO into suing for peace, the Russians today plan to paralyze civilian financial, energy, communications and transportation grids to incite NATO populations to demand an end to hostilities,” he said.
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