The U.S. Department of Defense decided Thursday to remove the B83-1 nuclear weapon, America’s most powerful free-fall bomb, from its arsenal, citing a growing number of limitations due to its capabilities and thus increased maintenance costs.
The decision comes after the Pentagon has continued its program to replace nuclear warheads whose service life requires replacements, at a time when U.S. officials have determined a high cost to maintain the B83-1 weapon.
«While the U.S. nuclear arsenal remains safe and effective, most nuclear deterrent systems are operating beyond their original service life (…). The B83-1 free-fall bomb will be retired due to increasing limitations in its capabilities and rising maintenance costs,» the Defense Department detailed in a statement.
The U.S. government has also announced the withdrawal of the nuclear-armed sea-launched cruise missile program, which was originally created to strengthen the deterrence of nuclear weapons in a regional conflict (SLCM-N).
«We have come to the conclusion that SLCM-N was no longer necessary,» a Defense Department official has said, maintaining that the U.S. deterrence posture was «firm,» which is why Russia would not dare attack NATO.
