Original title: The United States comprehensively upgraded its nuclear strike capability and updated its nuclear warheads
After the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute of Sweden released the report on global nuclear forces recently, the western media vigorously hyped the so-called "China has increased its nuclear warheads by 90". Lin Jian, spokesman of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said at a press conference on the 17th, "If you are really interested in strategic security issues, it is recommended that you pay more attention to the huge investment of the United States in upgrading the trinity nuclear force, strengthening nuclear sharing and extending deterrence, which is really a major issue related to global strategic stability." The reporter of the Global Times noted that, The United States has recently announced a series of new nuclear weapons development plans, which will comprehensively update almost all launch platforms and nuclear warheads.
Air Force: Nuclear modification of strategic bombers
According to the US Defense News on the 19th, the US Congress requires the US Air Force to restore its nuclear capability to as many as 30 B-52H strategic bombers in the 2025 fiscal year defense policy act. This also means that all bombers of the US Air Force will have nuclear strike capability in the future.
According to the report, according to the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty between the United States and Russia, the US Air Force modified about 30 B-52H strategic bombers in 2015, so that they can only put conventional ammunition. However, the treaty will expire in February 2026, and members of the United States Congress, under the pretext of "China and Russia are both promoting the modernization of nuclear weapons", urgently demand to strengthen the United States nuclear arsenal. According to the report of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute in Sweden, the United States deployed 1770 strategic nuclear warheads and Russia deployed 1710. The report also claimed that "China currently has about 500 nuclear warheads, and the Pentagon predicts that China will have 1500 nuclear warheads by 2035."
Mike Rogers, the chairman of the Armed Services Committee of the United States House of Representatives and a Republican senator from Alabama, said that "the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty between the United States and Russia will expire in 2026, and Russia is unlikely to participate in serious arms control negotiations". The amendment to the National Defense Policy Act of the United States for the fiscal year 2025 was passed by the House of Representatives with 217 affirmative votes and 199 negative votes. It clearly requires the United States Air Force to start modifying bombers within one month after the expiration of the treaty, and fully restore its nuclear capabilities by 2029. Rogers declared: "We need to be prepared to face a nuclear environment that is not subject to any treaty restrictions." The US Senate Armed Services Committee also passed the bill, including the same requirement to restore the nuclear capabilities of all B-52 bombers of the US Air Force.
According to reports, the "troika" of the US Air Force strategic bombers includes the B-52H strategic bomber, B-1B supersonic bomber and B-2 stealth bomber. Among them, 76 B-52Hs in service are the oldest models and have been in service since the early 1960s. During the Cold War, these B-52 bombers of the US Air Force once flew along the edge of Soviet airspace with nuclear weapons attached. Today, B-52H mainly carries AGM-86B air launched nuclear cruise missile to undertake nuclear missions. The report mentioned that the B-1B of the US Air Force has been over used and the adequacy rate is low, so it has no longer undertaken the nuclear strike mission; About half of B-52H bombers also do not have nuclear strike capability. Mark Gunsinger, former B-52 bomber pilot and future concept and capability assessment director of Mitchell Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, said, "Our nuclear power is enough to compete with Russia, but the problem now is to face the challenges of both China and Russia."
The modification of these B-52H bombers by the U.S. Air Force will be carried out at Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma. According to the planning of the U.S. Air Force, the entire B-52 fleet will be completely upgraded in the future, equipped with new engines, radars, avionics, digital cockpit displays, landing gear and other improved equipment. The upgraded new model will be changed to B-52J. Gunsinger said that there is no great technical difficulty in restoring the nuclear strike capability of the B-52H. Because the internal wiring necessary for the installation of relevant equipment remains in the original position, it is only necessary to reinstall the removed equipment.
It is worth noting that according to the planning of the US Air Force, the B-21 "Raider" stealth bomber will replace the B-1B and B-2 bombers in service in the future. The B-52J and B-21 will jointly form the US air nuclear deterrent force in the future, which also means that all bombers of the US Air Force will have nuclear strike capability in the future.
But the plan to build a bomber fleet with full nuclear strike capability was also opposed by some critics. Daryl Kimball, Executive Director of the American Arms Control Association, believes that restoring the nuclear strike capability of B-52H and other measures in the National Defense Policy Act of 2025 may make it more difficult for the United States and Russia in the subsequent nuclear arms control negotiations. In an interview with the Defense News, Kimball said: "Some members of Congress needlessly ask the United States to increase its nuclear capabilities without clear national security reasons. Considering the soaring cost of the nuclear weapons modernization program, the United States will pay a high price for this."
Navy: equip main ships with nuclear cruise missiles
According to the Daily Telegraph of Britain on the 18th, the US Navy has resumed the development of a new generation of sea based nuclear cruise missiles. The project was expected by Trump, the then President of the United States, but the Biden administration once froze the relevant funding after taking office. With the vigorous promotion of the Pentagon and members of the US Congress, this new nuclear weapon project, which is believed to lower the threshold of future nuclear war, has been launched again.
According to the report, the Nuclear Strategy Agency of the US Department of Defense announced last week that it would pay a US defense contractor to start the research and development of new nuclear cruise missiles. According to the report, once completed in the mid-1930s, this cruise missile capable of carrying nuclear warheads will become the first such weapon put into use by the United States after the Cold War.
In the 1980s, both nuclear submarines and surface ships of the US Navy were equipped with Tomahawk cruise missiles with nuclear warheads. However, after the end of the Cold War, the US significantly reduced the size of its nuclear arsenal, and the Tomahawk cruise missiles with nuclear warheads were all retired in 2010. However, Pentagon officials have always been interested in acquiring such "easier to use nuclear weapons". In 2018, the Trump government proposed the sea based nuclear cruise missile (SLCM-N) program to develop new nuclear weapons that can be launched from surface warships or attack nuclear submarines. The US military hopes that it can provide a low yield warhead option to counter the use of tactical nuclear weapons by opponents. "If the opponent risks using tactical nuclear weapons, the US Navy can use SLCM-N to deter and respond". The US military believes that SLCM-N can be deployed on concealed underwater submarines or dispersed on multiple surface ships to enhance the credibility of nuclear deterrence in Europe and East Asia. It can use a wide operational area, which is difficult to find and destroy. At the same time, it can maintain the responsiveness and increase the flexibility and diversity of regional deterrence.
However, the Biden government strongly opposed the SLCM-N project after taking office, and requested to stop funding the project in the last round of defense budget application. In the Nuclear Posture Review Report released by the Pentagon in 2022, it also said that the project was "worthless". The Biden government also believes that the existing weapons are enough to bear the role of this nuclear cruise missile, and the development cost of this missile project alone is up to 31 billion dollars. Another low yield nuclear weapon promoted in the Trump era, the W76-2 low yield nuclear warhead, has been deployed to submarine launched ballistic missiles. In fact, some senior US military officials said that if the United States continues to maintain the submarine launched ballistic missile combat power with small nuclear weapons, it can maintain sufficient deterrence even if it does not develop new nuclear cruise missiles.
But US military officials and members of Congress have been pushing forward. The Daily Telegraph said that the Pentagon claimed to develop the missile in order to compete with China and Russia. As for the US side's constant speculation of the so-called "China's nuclear threat" theory in recent years, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said that the US side's relevant remarks were just an excuse for expanding its nuclear arsenal and seeking an overwhelming strategic advantage. China pursues the policy of no first use of nuclear weapons, always maintains its nuclear force at the lowest level required for national security, never participates in any form of nuclear arms race, and poses no threat to any country.
Nuclear warhead upgrading
According to the plan announced by the Pentagon, the "trinity" nuclear force of the US military is being comprehensively updated. In terms of land-based nuclear force, 400 "Sentinel" intercontinental missiles will replace the "Minuteman 3" intercontinental missiles and 450 underground silos will be renovated; In terms of sea based nuclear forces, "Columbia" class strategic nuclear submarines were used to replace the existing "Ohio" class strategic nuclear submarines; In terms of air based nuclear forces, they will all be replaced by B-52J and B-21 bombers, and the new AGM-181 air launched long-range cruise missile will replace the AGM-86B nuclear cruise missile developed during the Cold War.
In addition to the comprehensive replacement of these launch platforms, their matching nuclear warheads have also been updated accordingly. Since the end of the Cold War, the United States has been maintaining its nuclear arsenal by renovating existing warheads. The National Nuclear Safety Administration of the United States delivered more than 200 refurbished nuclear warheads to the US military in 2023. In recent years, the United States has moved towards a more ambitious plan that focuses on the production of new or significantly modified nuclear warheads. For example, the United States is producing a significantly improved W87-1 nuclear warhead to equip the Sentinel intercontinental missile. At present, the W87 nuclear warhead equivalent of "Minuteman 3" intercontinental missile is 300000 tons, which can be further increased to 475000 tons by adding kits. The W87-1 is an improved version of W87, which uses plutonium pits produced by the new manufacturing process for the first time in the United States since the moratorium on nuclear testing in 1992, with better safety and reliability.
The US Air Force is replacing the old free fall nuclear bombs in service with new B61-12 and B61-13 nuclear bombs. Among them, the B61-12 adopts a technology similar to the "Jedam" guided bomb, which greatly improves the hit accuracy and the ability to destroy the target. Its equivalent can be adjusted between 300 tons, 5000 tons, 10000 tons and 50000 tons, with better actual combat performance. In March this year, the US Air Force F-35A fighter plane had obtained the qualification certification to carry the new B61-12 nuclear bomb. Hans Christensen, the director of the nuclear information program of the American Federation of Scientists, believes that the F-35A's acquisition of the B61-12 nuclear bomb is a milestone in the ongoing efforts of the United States to modernize its nuclear arsenal. He said: "With the full production of B61-12, as well as the certification of the four NATO allies Belgium, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands and the US Air Force F-35A fighter planes stationed in Europe to carry nuclear weapons, the stage for the upgrade of European tactical nuclear weapons has been ready." The B61-13 nuclear bomb is more powerful, specifically for highly protected facilities, For example, the underground strategic command and control center and other targets carry out devastating attacks.
Although the US Navy's "Columbia" class strategic nuclear submarine will continue to use the Trident 2 submarine launched intercontinental missile, it will be equipped with a newly developed W93 nuclear warhead. This nuclear warhead is also the first nuclear warhead newly developed by the United States in 40 years, and has entered the design stage.
