The Nuclear Sea-Launched Cruise Missile

The briefing outlines three primary risks of reintroducing nuclear-armed sea-launched cruise missiles (SLCM-N) to the U.S. Navy: operational complications and costs, the 'discrimination problem' where adversaries cannot distinguish nuclear from conventional strikes, and the risk of incentivizing other states to pursue similar capabilities, thereby lowering the threshold for nuclear use.

• The reintroduction of SLCM-N would create significant operational and logistical burdens for the U.S. Navy, including increased costs and the need for specialized training and equipment. Furthermore, it could complicate the AUKUS agreement and the sale of conventional Tomahawk missiles to Australia, as China may challenge the intermingling of nuclear and conventional supply lines.
• The 'Discrimination Problem' arises because SLCM-N use identical launch platforms and missile systems to conventional weapons. This ambiguity forces adversaries to decide whether to wait for impact or launch a preemptive counterstrike, which increases the risk of miscalculation and undermines strategic stability.
• Reviving SLCM-N could trigger a proliferation trend, incentivizing countries such as China, India, and Pakistan to develop similar weapons. This shift toward 'nonstrategic' or lower-yield nuclear weapons may lead other nations to view nuclear weapons as acceptable warfighting tools, potentially lowering the threshold for their use.
• The document asserts that SLCM-N is a redundant capability, as existing nuclear and conventional assets already provide a stable deterrence package for the region, a view echoed in the Navy's own budget request and analysis from Japan.

APA

Facini, A., & Parthemore, C. (2022). The Nuclear Sea-Launched Cruise Missile. The Council on Strategic Risks. https://councilonstrategicrisks.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Roundup-SLCMN-Risks-final-1.pdf

Chicago

Facini, Andrew, and Christine Parthemore. The Nuclear Sea-Launched Cruise Missile. The Council on Strategic Risks, 2022. https://councilonstrategicrisks.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Roundup-SLCMN-Risks-final-1.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Facini |first1=Andrew |last2=Parthemore |first2=Christine |title=The Nuclear Sea-Launched Cruise Missile |publisher=The Council on Strategic Risks |date=June 2022 |url=https://councilonstrategicrisks.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Roundup-SLCMN-Risks-final-1.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{facini2022nuclear, author = {Facini, Andrew and Parthemore, Christine}, title = {{The Nuclear Sea-Launched Cruise Missile}}, institution = {The Council on Strategic Risks}, year = {2022}, month = jun, url = {https://councilonstrategicrisks.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Roundup-SLCMN-Risks-final-1.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }