1
U.S. Department of Defense. “DoD News Briefing – Secretary Rumsfeld and Gen. Myers.”
(continued...)
Congressional Research Service ˜ The Library of Congress
CRS Report for Congress
Received through the CRS Web
Order Code RS21762
March 8, 2004
Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator Budget
Request and Plan, FY2005-FY2009
Jonathan Medalia
Specialist in National Defense
Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division
Summary
The FY2005 budget document for the National Nuclear Security Administration
(NNSA) shows funding for the Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator (RNEP) increasing
sharply after FY2005 as the weapon proceeds beyond the study phase. NNSA states that
these developments are shown for budgeting purposes and do not represent an actual
plan. It further states that the out-year figures are already out of date, but that no new
figures are available. A feasibility and cost study of RNEP currently under way was
projected to cost $45 million between FY2003 and FY2005, but is now projected to cost
$71 million between FY2003 and FY2006. This report explains the budget request and
plan, and will be updated as needed. CRS Report RL32130, Nuclear Weapon
Initiatives: Low-Yield R&D, Advanced Concepts, Earth Penetrators, Test Readiness, by
Jonathan Medalia, has further information.
Background
Nuclear earth penetrator weapons burrow into the ground some tens of feet before
detonating, greatly increasing their ability to destroy hardened underground targets.
RNEP is at present a study, begun in May 2003, of modifications to convert existing B61
or B83 nuclear bombs to an earth penetrator configuration. While the Air Force is leading
the study, NNSA – a semiautonomous agency in the Department of Energy responsible
for nuclear warheads – is in charge of studying modifications of specific warheads.
RNEP is controversial. Supporters argue that it is needed to attack hard and deeply
buried targets (such as leadership bunkers or WMD production facilities) in countries of
concern, thereby deterring or defeating such nations; critics reply that RNEP would lower
the threshold for use of nuclear weapons and prompt other nations to develop nuclear
weapons to deter U.S. attack. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said in May 2003
that RNEP “is a study. It is nothing more and nothing less.”
1
The plan was that the
