U.S. deploys 'more survivable' submarine-launched low-yield nuclear
weapon
Send a link to a friend
[February 05, 2020]
By Idrees Ali
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Defense
Department said on Tuesday the Navy had fielded a low-yield,
submarine-launched ballistic missile warhead, something the Pentagon
believes is needed to deter adversaries like Russia but which critics
say lowers the threshold for using nuclear weapons.
Low-yield nuclear weapons, while still devastating, have a strength of
less than 20 kilotons. The atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, in August
1945, had about the same explosive power.
"This supplemental capability strengthens deterrence and provides the
United States a prompt, more survivable low-yield strategic weapon,"
John Rood, the under secretary of defense for policy, said in a
statement.
"(It) supports our commitment to extended deterrence; and 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," Rood added.
A 2018 Pentagon document called for the military to expand its low-yield
nuclear capability, saying the United States would modify a small number
of submarine-launched ballistic missile warheads with low-yield options.
"The administration's decision to deploy the W76-2 warhead remains a
misguided and dangerous one. The deployment of this warhead does nothing
to make Americans safer," Democratic Representative Adam Smith, chairman
of the House Armed Services Committee, said in a statement.
[to top of second column]
|
U.S. submarine New Mexico is seen during NATO's Dynamic Manta 2017
anti-submarine warfare exercise, in Catania's harbour, southern
Italy March 13, 2017. REUTERS/Antonio Parrinello/File Photo
Arms control advocates and some lawmakers have argued that such
low-yield weapons reduce the threshold for potentially using nuclear
weapons and could make a nuclear conflict more likely. The United
States already has air-launched, low-yield nuclear weapons and
critics say that should be sufficient.
"President Trump now has a more usable nuclear weapon that is a
dangerous solution in search of a problem," said Kingston Reif,
director for disarmament and threat reduction policy at the Arms
Control Association advocacy group.
The argument for these weapons is that larger nuclear bombs are so
catastrophic that they would never be used, meaning they are not an
effective deterrent. With less power and destruction, the low-yield
option would potentially be more likely to be used, serving as an
effective deterrent, military officials have said.
The Federation of American Scientists said last week that the Navy
was scheduled to deploy the low-yield warhead on the USS Tennessee
in the Atlantic Ocean.
(Reporting by Idrees Ali. Additional reporting by Phil Stewart;
Editing by Leslie Adler and Tom Brown)
[© 2020 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2020 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content. |