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Nuclear Modernization

W80-5 “Just Came Up,” Will Go On SLCM-N, Weapons Directors Say

Sarah Salem

Thursday, January 29th, 2026

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W80-5 “Just Came Up,” Will Go On SLCM-N, Weapons Directors Say

W8-4 warhead. Image: National Nuclear Security Administration

The W80-5, a new variant of the W80 warhead family, is on a “more aggressive schedule” to go on the nuclear-armed sea-launched cruise missile (SLCM-N), weapons directors said on the final day of Exchange Monitor’s Nuclear Deterrence Summit. Rita Gonzales, deputy Laboratories Director for Nuclear Deterrence at Sandia National Laboratories, and Bradley Wallin, deputy director of Strategic Deterrence at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, both spoke on a panel about the new warhead the Department of Energy’s semi-autonomous National Nuclear Security…

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