SLCM-N
The Department encourages additional vendor participation in the design, development, and production of alternative weapons systems to meet current and future warfighting requirements. With current major weapons systems production at capacity, the nation is looking for alternative systems to fill these gaps. The Department is implementing diverse procurement strategies to enable rapid acquisition. These will include the use of Other Transaction Authorities, 'Marketplace' acquisition platforms, and alternative concepts to increase supply and suppliers in addition to traditional FAR-based procurement strategies. The FY 2026 spend plan includes $0 thousand of discretionary and $1,677,309 thousand of reconciliation for a total of $1,677,309 thousand. The Nuclear-Armed Sea Launched Cruise Missile Program (SLCM-N) is not a new start in FY2027. No discretionary funding is requested for FY2027. SLCM-N is a theater nuclear system intended to expand the President's options for responding to limited nuclear use and strategic non-nuclear attacks. SLCM-N enables a persistent, survivable regional nuclear presence that provides assurance to U.S. allies of a credible U.S. theater nuclear response, without dependence on allied host nations. The SLCM-N program was established per the Acquisition Decision Memorandum (ADM) dated March 15, 2024. The ADM designated SLCM-N an ACAT ID Major Defense Acquisition Program with the Navy as the lead component, as well as authorized the program's entry into the Materiel Solutions Analysis phase. The SLCM-N program is planning to achieve Initial Operational Capability by 30 September 2034 per the FY2024 NDAA and Limited Operational Capability by 30 September 2032 per the FY2026 NDAA. SLCM-N Enterprise System is composed of the SLCM-N Weapon System and Integrated Product Support (IPS). It requires the aggregation of both the Weapon System and IPS to produce the required capability of the SLCM-N program. Nuclear Weapon Surety (Safety, Security, and Use Control) applies across the entire SLCM-N Enterprise System. The SLCM-N Weapon System is the composition of the flight vehicle, warhead, capsule, canister, fire control, enabling platform equipment, and multiple canister launcher that will function onboard a launch platform. SLCM-N IPS addresses respective subsystems and implementation.