Sec. 1634. Nuclear-capable sea-launched cruise missile
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Congress finds the following: Several senior military officers, including the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Commander of United States Strategic Command, have offered their support for continued research and development of a nuclear-capable sea-launched cruise missile to strengthen nuclear deterrence. Deploying a nuclear-capable sea-launched cruise missile on naval vessels would not come without a cost , as was testified by Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Mike Gilday.
Admiral Gilday described the challenges associated with training, sustainability, reliability, and readiness that would be associated with adding a nuclear mission and went on to say that he was not convinced yet that we need to make a $31,000,000,000 investment in that particular system to close that particular gap . Instead, he recommended keeping a small amount of money for research and development of the nuclear-capable sea-launched cruise missile as the Department of Defense seeks to better understand the implications of living with two nuclear-armed peer competitors.
Not later than 270 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Defense shall submit to the congressional defense committees a report that describes the approach by the Department of Defense for deterring theater nuclear employment by Russia and China, including— an assessment of the current and future theater nuclear capabilities and doctrine of Russia and China; an explanation of the strategy and capabilities of the United States for deterring theater nuclear employment; and a comparative assessment of options for strengthening deterrence of theater nuclear employment, including pursuit of the nuclear-capable sea-launched cruise missile and other potential changes to the nuclear and conventional posture and capabilities of the United States.
Not later than 270 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Navy shall submit to the congressional defense committees a report that describes the full cost of developing, producing, fielding, and maintaining nuclear-capable sea-launched cruise missiles through at least 2050, including— the costs associated with research and development and production of the missile; the costs associated with modifications to port infrastructure; the costs associated with nuclear certification, personnel training, and operations; and any other incremental costs compared to sustaining and operating nonnuclear naval vessels.
Not later than 270 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Navy shall submit to the congressional defense committees a report that describes any operational limitations and trade-offs that would be associated with deploying nuclear-capable sea-launched cruise missiles on naval vessels, including— the effect of allocating missile or torpedo tubes from conventional munitions to nuclear munitions; operational constraints and trade-offs associated with reserving or limiting naval vessels on account of nuclear mission requirements; trade-offs in posture and capabilities that the Navy would likely face if the Navy had to allocate more resources to a nuclear-capable missiles; and any other issues identified by the Secretary.
Not later than 270 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator for Nuclear Security shall submit to the congressional defense committees a report that describes the cost and timeline of developing and producing a warhead for a nuclear-capable sea-launched cruise missile, including— the cost of developing, producing, and sustaining the warhead; the timeline for the design, production, and fielding of the warhead; and an assessment of how the pursuit of the warhead would affect other planned warhead activities of the National Nuclear Security Administration, including whether there would be risk to the cost and schedule of other warhead programs of the Administration if the Administrator added a nuclear-capable sea-launched cruise missile warhead to the portfolio of such programs.
To inform the reports under this subsection, not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to the congressional defense committees a report identifying one or more preferred courses of action from among the actions identified in the analysis of alternatives for a nuclear-capable sea-launched cruise missile. None of the funds authorized to be appropriated by this Act or otherwise made available for fiscal year 2023 for the Department of Defense or the National Nuclear Security Administration may be obligated or expended for a purpose specified in paragraph
(2)until— each of the reports under subsection (b), an unclassified version of the 2022 Nuclear Posture Review, and a detailed, unclassified summary of the analysis of alternatives regarding the nuclear-capable sea-launched cruise missile, have been submitted to the congressional defense committees; and the Secretary of Defense, in coordination with the Administrator for Nuclear Security, certifies to the congressional defense committees that the development and deployment of a nuclear-capable sea-launched cruise missile is required to meet a valid military requirement and would not create significant risk to conventional or nuclear deterrence by constraining conventional military operations or trading-off with the pursuit of other conventional or nuclear military capabilities. The purposes specified in this paragraph are the following: With respect to the Department of Defense, system development and demonstration of a nuclear-capable sea-launched cruise missile. With respect to the National Nuclear Security Administration, development engineering for a modified, altered, or new warhead for a sea-launched cruise missile. In this section: The term development engineering means activities under phase 3 of the joint nuclear weapons life cycle (as defined in section 4220 of the Atomic Energy Defense Act ( 50 U.S.C. 2538b ) or phase 6.3 of a nuclear weapons life extension program. The term system development and demonstration means the activities occurring in the phase after a program achieves Milestone B approval (as defined in section 4172 of title 10, United States Code).
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- 50 USC 2538b
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Sec. 1634
Nuclear-capable sea-launched cruise missile
Cite50 USC 2538b
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