The W93 is a new nuclear warhead intended for deployment on U.S. ballistic missile submarines by 2040 at an estimated preliminary total cost of more than $15 billion in Department of Energy (DOE)/ National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and Department of Defense (DOD) funds. Many questions surround the W93, particularly on its status as the first completely […]
Fact Sheet: U.S. Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles
Updated February 2024 The land-based leg of the U.S. nuclear triad is currently composed of 400 deployed Minuteman III Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) based out of Malmstrom, Minot, and Warren Air Force bases in underground silos stretching across Montana, North Dakota, Wyoming, Nebraska and Colorado. Each ICBM carries one warhead — either the W87 or the […]
Fact Sheet: U.S. Nuclear Weapons Modernization: Costs & Constraints
Updated May 2023 The United States plans to spend up to $1.5 trillion over 30 years to overhaul its nuclear arsenal by rebuilding each leg of the nuclear triad and its accompanying infrastructure. The plans include, but are not limited to, a new class of ballistic missile submarines, a new set of silo-based intercontinental ballistic missiles, […]
Joe Biden’s Plan to Extend Russia Nuclear Treaty Praised by Arms Control Groups
Executive Director John Tierney was quoted in Newsweek about the Biden administration’s plan to extend the New START agreement with Russia for the full five years allowed by the treaty. “Extending New START for the full five years allowed under the terms of the agreement is the right decision,” John Tierney, executive director of the […]
Fact Sheet: The Nuclear Triad
The U.S. nuclear arsenal comprises thousands of nuclear weapons and three methods of delivery, sometimes called “legs.” Warheads can be launched from the air via strategic bombers carrying gravity bombs or cruise missiles, from the sea by submarines holding ballistic missiles, or from underground silos housing intercontinental ballistic missiles. Collectively, these delivery methods are referred […]