The Defense Department plans to use the proposed W93 submarine-launched nuclear ballistic missile (SLBM) warhead to eventually replace the current W76 and W88 warheads without increasing the size of the nuclear stockpile, according to a senior Pentagon official.
The U.S. currently uses the W76 and W88 families of warheads on the Trident II D5 SLBMs deployed on Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines.
“Both of these systems are growing old and so now we must start thinking about a warhead that will replace one of those two when it’s time for those systems to retire. And these things take a long time. There’s a seven-phase process by which we start to develop a warhead,” the official said on Friday.
The official noted the W93 will likely replace the W88 before the W76.
As part of this effort, the Defense Department will get a new program of record for the W93 to go on the SLBM. The work is starting now, the official said, “so that in the next 15 to 20 years we have a warhead that’s available to replace the aging W88.”
The official underscored it will “be based on previous designs, previously nuclear tested designs. It’s not going to require any nuclear testing and, in fact, it’s not even going to increase the size of the nuclear stockpile because as we start to field, eventually the W93s, the 88s will probably come out of the inventory.”
“The idea and current plan is to one-for-one almost replace weapons in the current triad with W93s, so no appreciable increase in the size of the strategic stockpile,” the official continued.
Given the 15-20-year timeline and expected life of the current warheads, the W93 would likely be used on the Columbia-class SLBM submarine, which will succeed the current Ohio-class vessels. The first of 12 Columbias is planned to go on its first patrol in 2031, and the vessels are expected to serve through the 2080s.
