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Long deemed unnecessary, the re-upped SLCM-N venture could cost taxpayers — and national security — big time
Stavroula Pabst
May 22, 2025
Sea-launched, nuclear-armed cruise missiles, or SLCM-Ns, were considered unnecessary for U.S. national security for years. But now, the Navy’s pushing to bring SLCM-Ns back — even if doing so costs taxpayers billions.
Indeed, U.S. Navy Vice Admiral Johnny Wolfe told House Armed Services Committee members on May 7 that the Navy was fast tracking the development of the Sea-Launched Cruise Missile - Nuclear, known as the SLCM-N, along with the Trident II D5 Strategic Weapons System and hypersonic missiles.
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“The nuclear-armed sea-launched nuclear cruise missile is especially destabilizing because an adversary would have a hard time telling a nuclear armed one from the non-nuclear missile, making an accidental nuclear exchange more likely,” the Quincy Institute’s William Hartung told RS.
“This is a big deal, and [a] major reversal for the Navy, which for years said it did not want nor need this weapon,” Geoff Wilson, Distinguished Fellow and Strategic Advisor for the National Security Reform Program at the Stimson Center, explained.
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Article continues:
responsiblestatecraft.org
Stavroula Pabst
May 22, 2025
Sea-launched, nuclear-armed cruise missiles, or SLCM-Ns, were considered unnecessary for U.S. national security for years. But now, the Navy’s pushing to bring SLCM-Ns back — even if doing so costs taxpayers billions.
Indeed, U.S. Navy Vice Admiral Johnny Wolfe told House Armed Services Committee members on May 7 that the Navy was fast tracking the development of the Sea-Launched Cruise Missile - Nuclear, known as the SLCM-N, along with the Trident II D5 Strategic Weapons System and hypersonic missiles.
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How SLCM-Ns came out of retirement
Initially proposed by the first Trump administration in 2018, SLCM-Ns mark the return to the realm of nuclear-armed, sea-launched cruise missiles — despite policymakers’ repeated gripes that the program was ultimately unnecessary for national security..
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“The nuclear-armed sea-launched nuclear cruise missile is especially destabilizing because an adversary would have a hard time telling a nuclear armed one from the non-nuclear missile, making an accidental nuclear exchange more likely,” the Quincy Institute’s William Hartung told RS.
“This is a big deal, and [a] major reversal for the Navy, which for years said it did not want nor need this weapon,” Geoff Wilson, Distinguished Fellow and Strategic Advisor for the National Security Reform Program at the Stimson Center, explained.
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Article continues:

Navy pushing billions for sea-based nukes that nobody seems to want
Long deemed unnecessary, the re-upped SLCM-N venture could cost taxpayers — and national security — big time
