(a) "WASHINGTON—The Pentagon is planning to develop two new sea-based nuclear weapons to respond to Russia and China's growing military capabilities, according to a sweeping Defense Department review of nuclear strategy [Nuclear Posture Review].
(b) "One weapon, which experts say could be deployed in about two years, is a 'low yield' warhead for the Trident missile, which currently is deployed with more powerful warheads on the Navy’s submarines that carry ballistic missiles.
"The US also would pursue the development of a new nuclear-tipped sea-launched cruise missile, reintroducing a system that was retired from the American arsenal in 2010.
(c) "That strategy, which is expected to be formally unveiled later this month, has yet to be approved by the president. The Pentagon has dismissed an unclassified draft of the strategy, which was published last week by HuffPost, as 'pre-decisional,' while more updated drafts are also circulating.
(d) "A major concern for the Pentagon is a new Russian ground-launched cruise missile that American officials say violates the treaty banning intermediate-range missiles based on land, which was signed in 1987 by President Ronald Reagan and Mikhail S Gorbachev, leader of the then-Soviet Union. Russia's decision to develop and deploy that system is described by the review as part of a Russian doctrine that calls for threatening the limited use of nuclear weapons, or perhaps even carrying out a limited nuclear strike, to end a conventional war on terms favorable to the Kremlin.
(e) "The draft doesn't precisely define what 'low yield' nuclear weapons might be, but the new Trident system might have a warhead of one or two kilotons, compared with the current system which has an explosive yield that ranges from 100 kilotons to 455 kilotons, depending on the warhead it carries. By comparison, the US nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, at the end of World War II was about 15 kilotons.
My comment:
(a) Now that the review is not approved by president, there is no need to read the rest.
(b)
(i) UGM-133 Trident II https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UGM-133_Trident_II
(or Trident D5 [which is 2.0, 1.0 was UGM-96A Trident I (C4) ); Operational range "More than 7,500 mi (12,000 km) (exact is classified)" )
(ii) ballistic missile https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballistic_missile
(section 4 Missile types: short-range: up to 1,000km; medium-range: 1,000-3,500km; intermediate-range 3,500-5,500km; intercontinental >5.500km)
(c) What quotation (c) means is this: HuffPost published a report based on an very old draft, but patting itself on the back, WSJ says this report is based on the latest (presumably classified) draft.
(d) Regarding quotation (b)(paragraphs 2) and (d), see
(i) Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In ... clear_Forces_Treaty
(1987; "The INF Treaty eliminated all nuclear and conventional missiles, as well as their launchers, with ranges of 500–1,000 kilometers (310–620 mi) (short-range) and 1,000–5,500 km (620–3,420 mi) (intermediate-range). The treaty did not cover sea-launched missiles")
, which of course are binding on only signatories (US and Soviet Union, whose successor is Russia).
Why not medium-range missiles? See section 1 Background, which does not mentions it. It is odd. What is the rationale?
(ii) In fact, the Treaty does ban all ground-launched (but not submarine-launched) missiles with a range under 5,500lm. See
Treaty Between the United States of America And the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on The Elimination of Their Intermediate-Range And Shorter-Range Missiles (INF Treaty) www.state.gov/t/avc/trty/102360.htm
two consecutive paragraphs:
"5. The term 'intermediate-range missile" means a GLBM or a GLCM [ground-launched cruise missile] having a range capability in excess of 1000 kilometers but not in excess of 5500 kilometers.
"6. The term 'shorter-range missile' means a GLBM or a GLCM having a range capability equal to or in excess of 500 kilometers but not in excess of 1000 kilometers.
(e) Regarding quotation (e).
(i) Little Boy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Boy
(exploded with an energy of approximately 15 kilotons of TNT)
(ii) Differentiating tactical nuclear weapon (deployed in a battlefield in front line), the en.wikipedia.org defines strategic nuclear weapon (which targets enemy interior, away friendly forces) as "starting from 100 kilotons."