Washington (CNN) – The US military deployed a new low-power nuclear weapon launched by submarines, something the Pentagon considers critical to counter the threat posed by Russia’s smallest tactical nuclear weapons arsenal.
Several former senior officials of the administration, however, have said that weapons increase the potential for nuclear conflict.
“The US Navy UU. presented the ballistic warhead of W76-2 low-power ballistic missiles, ”said John Rood, deputy secretary of defense for policies, in a statement Tuesday.
The new nuclear weapon is a modification of the pre-existing W-76 warhead, which is used to arm Trident II (D-5) missiles launched by submarines, so the new weapon does not add to the total number of nuclear weapons in the arsenal from U.S.
Nuclear launch codes and nuclear options in the so-called nuclear briefcase for the president have now been updated to reflect this weapon, a US official told CNN.
The new warheads, the first new nuclear weapon in the US UU. in decades, they were produced by first time in February of last year.
The less powerful weapon was requested in the 2018 Trump Administration’s Nuclear Posture Review, which warned that adversaries might believe they could use a smaller nuclear weapon against the US. UU. or its allies without fear of the US UU. They will launch nuclear reprisals because US weapons are disproportionately more destructive.
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“Expand flexible US nuclear options. UU. Now, to include low power options, it is important for the preservation of credible deterrence against regional aggression. It will raise the nuclear threshold and help ensure that potential adversaries perceive no possible advantage in limited nuclear escalation, which makes nuclear employment less likely, ”said the Review of the 2018 Nuclear Posture.
The plan required modifying existing US warheads in ballistic missiles launched from submarines as part of a five-year $ 50 million program.
Each submarine would only transport some of these new missiles, armed primarily with larger-range strategic missiles.
“The United States regularly consults with its allies about its nuclear weapons systems and has provided updates on its development of low-powered tridents since the 2018 Nuclear Posture Review,” a NATO official told CNN.
Rood said the low-power weapons requirement identified in the review was aimed at “addressing the conclusion that potential adversaries, such as Russia, believe that the use of low-performance nuclear weapons will give them an advantage over the United States and its allies. . ”
He added that the new weapon “demonstrates to potential adversaries that limited nuclear employment has no advantage because the United States can respond credibly and decisively to any threat scenario.”
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The president of the Armed Services Commission of the Democratic House, Adam Smith, of Washington, described the decision as “wrong and dangerous.”
“The deployment of this warhead does nothing to make Americans safer. Instead, this destabilizing deployment further increases the potential for miscalculation during a crisis, ”he added.
It is believed that Russia maintains a large pool of “tactical” nuclear weapons, which are less powerful and destructive than those of the United States.
The United States has some older B61 nuclear “gravity” tactical bombs, but they are considered much more vulnerable than a submarine-launched weapon.
The real difference is the ability to threaten “and penetrate targets in the depths of the adversary territory that current aircraft that deliver low-power nuclear weapons cannot reach,” according to Vipin Narang, associate professor of political science at MIT.
General John Hyten, vice president of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told CNN on Tuesday that submarines also offer a faster response option than airplanes.
“More than reliability, it is to act promptly because with a submarine you can respond immediately, with a bomber you have to load the weapon and then you have to fly wherever the target is,” he said.
Some have criticized that the US UU. Look for the lower-powered weapon as some say it lowers the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons, arguing that leaders may feel less inhibited to use such weapons.
“We write to respectfully request that Congress reject the Trump administration’s request for new, low-power, new, more usable nuclear warheads for Trident missiles. There is no need for such weapons and building them would make the United States less safe. The so-called “low power” weapons are a gateway to the nuclear catastrophe and should not be sought ”, wrote In 2018, a group of former officials, including former Secretary of State George Schultz and former Secretary of Defense William Perry.
One problem is that mixing low and very high performance weapons on the same ship makes it impossible for Russia or any adversary to know what is coming, Narang told CNN.
“They have to assume the worst, even if it is ‘only one or two missiles’ since fully loaded submarines can carry multiple thermonuclear warheads,” he said, adding that the Russians have made it clear that they will not wait for an incoming missile to hit them. before retaliation
“Then you have a system that you can never use because it buys you a strategic nuclear war. And if you can never really use it, and the Russians know it, you can’t deter what you want, ”Narang said.
However, Hyten rejected criticism that low-performance weapons reduce the threshold for using nuclear weapons, saying, “I don’t agree with that assessment.”
“The total performance of our nuclear arsenal today is lower than before” of the deployment of this weapon, he added.
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