The National Nuclear Security Administration of the U.S. Department of Energy (NNSA) has confirmed the completion of the first plutonium core for the latest W87-1 thermonuclear warhead.

This is stated on the official website of the department.

The United States is currently restoring core production capacity and aims to produce at least 80 units per year.

The production of cores stopped in 1989. NNSA continues to recapitalize production facilities that atrophied in the post-Cold War era.

The first core is an important milestone in the United States’ nuclear arsenal modernization program.

The W87-1 warheads are designed to be equipped with Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missiles, which will replace the Minuteman III in the future.

Sentinel

The Sentinel program is a modernization of the ground-based component of the United States’ nuclear triad. The missile is expected to remain in service until 2075.

It should completely replace its older “brother,” Minuteman III, which was on combat duty from 1970 to 2029.

The United States government plans to spend about $264 billion to operate the new missiles.

The payload chosen is a W87 Mod 1 thermonuclear warhead.

The first years of the missile’s operation are planned to use W87-0 warheads, and then, starting in 2030, W87-1 warheads.

The missile will be silo-based and features a three-stage design.