The W76-2 ballistic missile warhead “does not add to the total number of nuclear weapons in the US stockpile”, – CNN

The U.S. military have deployed a new nuclear warhead, which is supposed to arm Trident II ballistic missile.

“The US Navy has fielded the W76-2 low-yield submarine-launched ballistic missile warhead,” John Rood, the undersecretary of defense for policy, said in a statement Tuesday”, CNN wrote.

It appears that the Pentagon views this weapon as a possible response to Russia’s nuclear stock.  “The new warheads, the first new US nuclear weapon in decades, were first produced in February of last year. The less powerful weapon was called for in the Trump administration’s 2018 Nuclear Posture Review, which warned that adversaries might believe they could use a smaller nuclear weapon against the US or its allies without fear of the US launching a nuclear retaliation due to American weapons being disproportionately more destructive”, reads the article.  

Some officials question the reason why the weapon would be deployed. “The deployment of this warhead does nothing to make Americans safer. Instead, this destabilizing deployment further increases the potential for miscalculation during a crisis,” said Democratic House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith of Washington.  

(c) 112