ABQ Times

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Sandia National Laboratories and the Kansas City National Security Campus have achieved a significant milestone in the development of a crucial weapons component. The Mark 21 Replacement Fuze, designed to interface with the W87-0 warhead for deployment onto strategic missiles, has completed its first production unit approval process.

Brad Boswell, a director at Sandia, emphasized the importance of this achievement, stating, “Sandia’s role is to deliver a fuze that meets the Air Force’s requirements. Completing the first production unit is a visible milestone in maintaining a credible deterrent.”

The design work for the Mark 21 fuze began in 2011, with Sandia taking the lead in incorporating Air Force specifications into the fuze's design. Bob Oetken, a former program manager for the fuze program, highlighted the meticulous engineering work involved, stating, “We’re doing a very specific job that requires, in many cases, custom parts.”

Qualifying the fuze design was a rigorous process that involved extensive testing to ensure it meets Air Force standards. Oetken noted, “Some of the qualification is used to verify that we are meeting requirements and took as long as three years from concept to delivery.”

With the fuze now in full rate production, Sandia's focus shifts to ensuring the component's ongoing reliability and safety. Boswell emphasized this point, stating, “Sandia is responsible for ensuring that the weapon with the fuze attached is safe, secure and reliable.”

The successful completion of the first production unit of the Mark 21 fuze signifies more than a decade of collaborative effort between Sandia, the NNSA, and the Department of Defense. Boswell acknowledged this achievement as a significant milestone for the broader nuclear security enterprise, noting, “While we stop to recognize this achievement, we must also acknowledge this is the start of the next phase of our partnership as we work to meet key production milestones to deliver the quantity of fuzes needed to meet the needs of the stockpile.”