The guided-missile destroyer USS Chafee (DDG 90) launches a Block V Tomahawk on Nov. 30, 2020. The nuclear version of the Tomahawk land attack cruise missile was retired after the 2010 Nuclear Posture Review. (US Navy/Ens. Sean Ianno)
WASHINGTON: In a rare political win for non-proliferation advocates, the Biden administration has cancelled the Sea-Launched Cruise Missile-Nuclear program, one of the two new nuclear weapons greenlit by the Trump administration.
The Pentagon’s fiscal year 2023 budget request, released today, zeroes out funding planned for the so-called SLCM-N program, according to a senior defense official who spoke to reporters about the spending proposal.
“Really this decision came out of the Nuclear Posture Review,” the official said. “There was direction from the president to reduce the role of nuclear weapons in our defense strategy. That [decision to cancel SLCM-N] was a component.”
The determination is the latest in a back-and-forth spanning multiple administrations about the utility of a nuclear-armed cruise missile that could be launched from destroyers or Virginia-class attack submarines that typically use conventional weapons.
For more coverage of the FY23 budget rollout, click here.
The Obama administration’s 2010 Nuclear Posture Review called on the Navy to sunset the nuclear-version of its Tomahawk cruise missile, which was retired by 2013, according to the Federation of American Scientists.
The Trump administration’s 2018 NPR effectively reversed course, recommending the development of two new nukes: a new nuclear-tipped sea-launched cruise missile and the W76-2 nuclear warhead, a low-yield nuke launched from submarines that first deployed in 2019.
Last year, the Navy asked for $15.2 million to begin research and development activities for SLCM-N and an accompanying nuclear warhead. However, the Biden administration’s ultimate decision to cancel the program is not entirely a surprise.
During an event held in February, a panel of experts weighed in on which programs seemed most vulnerable ahead of the FY23 budget released, with several pointing to the SLCM-N and W76-2 as potential targets.
Stacie Pettyjohn, director of defense programs at the Center for a New American Security, noted that killing either effort would give President Joe Biden a political win — showing progressives that he is willing to reduce nuclear arms without having to make cuts to major efforts like the Ground Based Strategic Deterrent, Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine or B-21 bomber.
“It’s not a tremendous loss, but it is a tangible thing that we are taking away without really cutting into the major acquisition programs,” she said during the February event. “It’s making a sort of gesture in that direction without having to cut off an entire limb.”
Despite the cancellation of SLCM-N, funding for other nuclear programs flourished in the FY23 request.
When asked about the fate of the W76-2, the senior defense official responded that there is “no change there,” hinting that the upcoming Nuclear Posture Review — due to be released in the coming weeks — will continue to support the low-yield warhead.
According to a department fact sheet on the budget, the Pentagon requested a total of $34.4 billion across the nuclear enterprise for FY23, including $4.8 billion for nuclear command, control and communications.
The Navy requested $6.3 billion for the Columbia-class submarine, its leg of the nuclear triad. Meanwhile, the Air Force is also modernizing its two components of the triad, asking $5 billion for the B-21 bomber program and $3.6 billion for the Ground Based Strategic Deterrent program that will replace Minuteman III intercontinental missiles.
