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Nuclear Modernization

NNSA Estimates W87-1 Will Cost Almost $15B, GAO Questions Ready Date

Wednesday, September 23rd, 2020

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NNSA Estimates W87-1 Will Cost Almost $15B, GAO Questions Ready Date

The Air Force test launches a Minuteman III ICBM. Photo: Air Force.

According to a recently declassified report, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) thinks it will cost some $14.8 billion to build W87-1 warheads for the Ground Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD) missiles planned to replace Minuteman III as the land-based leg of the nuclear triad starting around 2030. That could make W87-1 — a newly manufactured copy of the existing W87 design, but with a brand new plutonium-pit trigger — “the most expensive program of this type to date,” the Government…

Congress

Senate Dems Block Consideration Of FY ‘27 NDAA Over Iran War Concerns

Senate Democrats on Tuesday blocked a vote to advance consideration of the chamber’s $1.14 trillion fiscal year 2027 National Defense Authorization (NDAA). The procedural vote was 46-50, failing to reach […]

Congress

Concerns Raised At SASC Hearing On Unobligated Reconciliation Funds And Lack Of Updates On Iran War Cost

Members of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) raised concerns at a hearing on Tuesday about the majority of funds in the $153 billion first reconciliation bill being unobligated thus […]

Unmanned Systems

CBO Says Upfront Costs To Protect Military Installations From Drones Between $1 Million And $74 Million

The initial costs to acquire and deploy counter-small unmanned aircraft system (C-sUAS) defenses at individual Defense Department installations are estimated at between $1.2 million and $73.6 million depending on the […]

Congress

House Heads For Recess Without Moving On NDAA After Procedural Vote Fails

The House will leave for the Fourth of July recess without moving forward on its $1.15 trillion fiscal year 2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), with a procedural vote to […]