Navy

The Navy Might Soon Have a New Nuclear Weapon for Its Missiles Submarines

The new lower-yield nuclear weapons are intended to give command authorities a wider range of attack options should they be needed to hold potential adversaries at risk amid high-threat confrontations, Secretary of Defense James Mattis told Congress earlier this year.

Many of the particular technical configurations are still to be determined, however the Pentagon planners have outlined an initial sketch of what these weapons might include, Hans Kristensen, Director of the Nuclear Information Project, Federation of American Scientists, told Warrior Maven.

One of the proposed options, he explained, might involve a first-of-its kind low-yield option wherein a different warhead would be configured onto existing nuclear armed Trident II D5 submarine launched nuclear missiles. Low-yield is as it sounds - smaller, more surgical and less destructive than most nuclear weapons.