U.S. To Scrap Sea-Launched Nuke Missile Program

The United States will stop developing nuclear-armed sea-launched cruise missiles, Pentagon documents released on Thursday said, despite senior military officials publicly recommending keeping it, Idrees Ali and Phil Stewart reported for Reuters.

Photo Insert: The decision to cancel the submarine-launched cruise missile could help President Joe Biden address calls from fellow Democrats to scale back America's nuclear arsenal.

The decision to cancel the submarine-launched cruise missile could help President Joe Biden address calls from fellow Democrats to scale back America's nuclear arsenal without sacrificing major components of its nuclear "triad" of nuclear-tipped ground-based inter-continental ballistic missiles, nuclear-capable bomber aircraft, and submarine-launched nuclear arms.

However, it's unclear if Congress -- which could come under Republican control after next month's elections -- will resist the efforts to scrap it. The Biden administration released three documents on Thursday: the National Defense Strategy, Nuclear Posture Review and Missile Defense Review.

Together, they laid out the military's priorities for the coming years and underscored that Washington would maintain "a very high bar for nuclear employment."

Under President Donald Trump's administration, the military made a decision in 2018 to develop a new nuclear-armed sea-launched cruise missile, with a focus on the threat from Russia.

But the Biden administration said in its review that the sea-launched cruise missile program (SLCM-N) was unnecessary and would be canceled because the US already had the "means to deter limited nuclear use."

In April, top US general Mark Milley told lawmakers that his position on the SLCM had not changed and he believed multiple options were needed.

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