File photo: The Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico has been conducting feasibility studies onthe W93 warhead. (Photo from Reference News)

Jennifer Granholm, US Secretary of Energy, and Jill Hruby, Administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), declared recently that the US will develop the W93 nuclear warhead.

Despite the volatile international security situation, the US Department of Defense released the information about the comprehensive upgrade of nuclear warheads, and contended that it will allow the US to keep pace with future adversary threats. Military observer Du Wenlong pointed out that nuclear force is an essential lever for the US to maintain its military hegemony and pursue so-called "absolute security". The nuclear warhead upgrade plan completely exposes its ambition of seeking hegemony with nuclear force.

According to Du's analysis, while the W76, W87 and W88 warheads previously deployed by the US are ample in quantity, it is questionable for the US whether they are capable of delivering effective lethality and credible nuclear deterrence in real combats.

"W93 will become the main force of the US sea-based submarine-launched nuclear warhead and replace the W76, W87 and W88 warheads," said Du. According to information released by the US, the W93 warhead incorporates submarinelaunch design and insensitive high explosives, and will be deployed to the new fleet of Columbia-class submarines and current Ohio-class submarines of the US military. Du said that the upgrade plan will promote the US sea-based operational capabilities to a certain extent.

The reliability, penetration and strike effect will certainly be enhanced if the legacy nuclear warheads on the Trident II D5 missiles equipped on the US Ohio-class submarines currently are replaced by the W93 warheads. Because of the modified version of ballistic missiles equipped on the Columbia-class nuclear submarines, the US military will redesign the force focusing on the practical strike effects and the deterrence capabilities of the Columbia-class, so as to form a new layout of new nuclear submarines, bombs and warheads.

Besides the comprehensive upgrade of its nuclear warheads, the US intends to spend over USD 750 billion in the following decade to update nearly all the components of its nuclear defense system, including new stealth bombers, submarines and land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM). In public opinion, it is the most ambitious nuclear weapon program of the US since the Manhattan Project.

Du noted that the fact that the US spares no effort to modernize and upgrade its nuclear force reveals its adherence to the outdated Cold War mentality and blind pursuit of so-called "absolute security". The radical approach will not only drag the US into the quagmire of nuclear arms race, but also bind the world together to sink into a more dangerous future.

"The US development of new warheads in the era of great power competition will stir up a renewed competition of nuclear technology, which will turn out to be a new form of 'nuclear arms race in Cold War' and greatly impact nuclear arms control and disarmament and even the broader global nuclear security situation," said Du.

Du also analyzed thatif the US starts to produce new warheads but delays or refuses to retire old ones at the same time, the quantity of the warheads it can actually employ will further increase. If other countries copy the approach of the US to the shift in nuclear warheads and capabilities, the global nuclear size will expand accordingly. Therefore, the nuclear arms race will probably proliferate in the "New Cold War" emerged on the basis of great power competition.

Editor's note: Originally published on military.cnr.cn, this article is translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online. The information and opinions in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn.