Weapons Complex Morning Briefing is retracting the story “Pentagon Needs New Nuke Cores for Cruise Missile, Official Says” (Sept. 6), which contained two fundamental inaccuracies.
We have removed the story from our website. To correct the inaccuracies in the story:
1 – The W80-4 nuclear warhead planned to be carried by the Pentagon’s next-generation air-launched cruise missile, the Long-Range Standoff Weapon (LRSO), is not designed to use any of the new plutonium pits the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration plans to start manufacturing in 2026. The Department of Energy plans to use existing pits from its current inventory in the W80-4 warhead.
2 – Ellen Lord, undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment, did not say the LRSO required new plutonium pits. She said only the LRSO requires plutonium pits.
