WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 29th January, 2019) The United States has begun manufacturing an undisclosed number of new low-yield nuclear warheads that were created at the behest of the Trump administration, the National Nuclear Security Agency (NNSA) announced on Monday.
"NNSA is on track to complete the W76-2 Initial Operational Capability [IOC] warhead quantity and deliver the units to the Navy by the end of Fiscal Year 2019," an agency spokesman said, as quoted by Defense news. The spokesman declined to say how many warheads are in the pipeline.
The warhead design is a modification of the W76-1 warhead for the Navy's Trident ballistic missile, which has allowed NNSA to quickly turn around the design since it was ordered in last year's Nuclear Posture Review.
The warhead is designed to be smaller than the weapon detonated at Hiroshima, Japan, near the end of World War II, according to Defense News.
The weapon's production has already drawn opposition from some members of Congress, with House Armed Services Committee Chair Adam Smith proposing that funds for production of the weapon be canceled.
