DOD Reissues Nuclear Weapons Systems Surety Program Standards

The Department of Defense (DoD) released today, the reissuance of DoD Instruction 3150.02, "DoD Nuclear Weapons Systems Surety Program." The reissuance is an important update to the Department's four nuclear surety standards, to elevate and integrate nuclear weapon system risk management processes for surety and cybersecurity, and ensure U.S. nuclear weapons are safe, secure, and under positive control.

"The current DoD nuclear surety standards have not substantively changed since they were developed in 1960. Our community took ownership and updated our surety standards to protect our enterprise," said Ms. Deborah Rosenblum, performing the duties of deputy undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment.

Nuclear surety provides clearer insight and awareness of operational risks across a systems' lifecycle and the stakeholder community. As we modernize our legacy Cold War-era nuclear weapon systems, we are increasingly relying on digital technologies. The update ensures DoD's nuclear surety standards are modernized to account for digital threats and ensures the continued success and applicability of the standards to meet both current and future threats to the nuclear enterprise.

The technological shift poses significant benefits to the predictability and reliability of information processing and decision-making processes; however, the shift also presents the significant risk(s) of potentially introducing cyber-related and other technology-based vulnerabilities.

Nuclear surety is a shared responsibility between the DoD and Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). Overlaps in responsibility exist between DoD and NNSA, thus requiring considerable coordination between the two regarding surety issues.

"It is our shared responsibility as members of the nuclear surety community to ensure our standards have evolved to address growing digital threats. I thank our partners with NNSA for helping ensure our nuclear weapons are safe, secure, and reliable," Ms. Rosenblum said.

The Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear, Chemical, and Biological Defense Programs (OASD(NCB)) leads DoD efforts to ensure a safe, secure, and effective U.S. nuclear deterrent. As the world returns to Great Power competition and the recognition that threats against the United States, its allies, and its interests are both proliferating and becoming more difficult to challenge, OASD(NCB) is at the forefront of U.S. efforts to sustain and modernize the nuclear deterrent. From the operational, to the administrative, to the speed of response and production, OASD(NCB) is reshaping the way DoD meets and responds to weapons of mass destruction threats.