US modernising its nuclear arsenal

The US has produced the first experimental batch of modified W87-1 nuclear warheads for the advanced LGM-35 Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile.

“The National Nuclear Security Administration [NNSA] has produced the first test batch of W87-1. The warheads will be deployed on the carrier in the early 2030s,” Interfax reports citing the NNSA annual report.

W87 is an American thermonuclear charge with a capacity of 300 kilotons, which was created for the Peacekeeper missile, intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). After the decommissioning of these missiles, 250 W87 warheads have been installed on the LGM-30G Minuteman-III ICBM since 2005 while 250 are stored in reserve.

Sentinel ICBM is an American programme to create a new intercontinental ballistic missile that will replace the obsolete LGM-30G Minuteman III, which has been in service since the early 1970s. According to the Pentagon, new ICBMs will be supplied to US strategic nuclear forces in the early 2030s.

NNSA facilities produced more than 200 modernised nuclear warheads for the Pentagon in 2023. The programmes of the B61-12 aerial bombs (0.7 to 170 kilotons) and the W88 ALT370 warheads (475 kilotons) were worked out for the American Trident II D5 submarine-launched ballistic missiles. The W88 ALT 370 is a modernised version of the W88 warhead, which has been in service since 1989. In total, about 400 warheads were produced.

Currently, both programmes have already been completed by 50 per cent, according to the NNSA annual report.

Moreover, the W80 nuclear warhead in the W80-4 version (5-150 kilotons) is being modified. The sea-based cruise missiles are expected to be equipped with it.

Presently, the US Department of Defence has approximately 3,708 warheads. About 1,770 of them are deployed, and about 1,938 are in reserve.