US Military Ready to Mount Warheads on New Ballistic Missiles

US military/ILLUSTRATIVE PHOTOI via Instagram @usairforce

JAKARTA - The United States military said it would be pointless to put several warheads on the new Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), if ordered by US President Donald Trump.

The head of the US Strategic Command (STRATCOM), Navy Admiral Rich Correll, said the readiness of the installation of the warhead was part of the current Minuteman III ICBM change that was armed with one warhead.

"We have the ability to do that. It is obviously a national-level decision that will be submitted to the President," Correll said, quoted by the War Zone portal as reported by ANTARA from Sputnik, Thursday, February 26.

The Sentinel missile is expected to begin replacing the Minuteman III in the 2030s, with the first test launch of the new design planned for 2027.

The LGM-30 Minuteman III missile, which is still in operation, was originally capable of carrying three warheads. However, to comply with the provisions of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START), the missile was then equipped with only one warhead, reported the War Zone.

A Sentinel program official declined to comment on how many warheads could be mounted on a single Sentinel missile. It was also previously reported that the publicly announced plan was that each missile would be armed with one W87-1 warhead.

The United States plans to fully modernize its land-based nuclear arsenal by 2038, with the missiles expected to begin operating around 2030. Repeated delays and budget overruns have raised questions about the program's implementation.

However, in early July 2024, the Pentagon announced that the development of the Sentinel ICBM would continue, even though the cost of the program had exceeded the initial estimate by 81 percent, reaching 140.9 billion US dollars (about Rp2.362 trillion).