Nuke ’em, if they can’t take a joke!
- The Trump administration has deployed new “low-yield” nuclear weapons aboard US Navy ballistic missile submarines, the Department of Defense said Tuesday.
- The W76-2, a low-yield nuclear warhead option requested in the 2018 Nuclear Posture Review to arm some of the Trident II missiles aboard Navy boomers, has an explosive yield of about 5 kilotons, many times less than other nuclear warheads in the US arsenal.
- The Pentagon insists that these weapons bolster US deterrence capabilities and reduce the risk of nuclear war, but many arms control experts argue that that these weapons lower the barrier to entry into nuclear-armed conflict, making full-scale nuclear war more possible.
US Navy ballistic missile submarines — boomers — are now sailing with ballistic missiles armed with new “low-yield” nuclear weapons, the Department of Defense announced Tuesday.
“The U.S. Navy has fielded the W76-2 low-yield submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) warhead……..This supplemental capability strengthens deterrence and provides the United States a prompt, more survivable low-yield strategic weapon.”
John Rood
Under Secretary of Defense for Policy
Rood, who told the Associated Press that these new weapons lower the risk of nuclear war, added that it “demonstrates to potential adversaries that there is no advantage to limited nuclear employment because the United States can credibly and decisively respond to any threat scenario.”
US Navy submarines now are deploying with new ‘low-yield’ nuclear weapons
Calamity Jane