Prospective Joint Chiefs Chairman Supports Sub-Launched Low-Yield Nuke

WASHINGTON —
The president’s nominee for chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said that he
supports development and deployment of a low-yield nuclear warhead as part of
the nations’ strategic deterrent.

“I think it
is an important capability to have in our arsenal in order to deal with any
potential adversaries or contingency operations,” Army Gen. Mark Milley said as
he testified June 11 on Capitol Hill at his confirmation hearing before the
Senate Armed Services Committee.

The
deployment of a low-yield warhead, the W76-2, is called for in the 2018 Nuclear
Posture Review. Production of the warhead has begun for the Trident D5LE
submarine-launched ballistic missiles to be deployed on board Ohio-class
ballistic-missile submarines.

“I think [the sub-launched low-yield nuclear warhead] is an important capability to have in our arsenal in order to deal with any potential adversaries or contingency operations.”

Army Gen. Mark Milley, JCC nominee

The future of
the W76-2 is clouded because of opposition of key Democratic members of the
House of Representatives and is one of the contentious issues of the National
Defense Authorization bill currently in work.

Milley listed
the nation’s strategic nuclear deterrent as his top modernization priority, the
others being space capabilities, artificial intelligence and hypersonic
weapons.

He supports
modernization of all three legs of the U.S. strategic deterrent triad: bombers,
ground-based intercontinental ballistic missiles and submarine-launched
ballistic missiles.

“The triad has worked,”
Milley said. “There are many reasons why there hasn’t been a great power war
since 1945. Clearly one of them is nuclear deterrence and part of that is the
capability of the triad. Each leg of the triad gives you different capability.”