Global Security

The ever-evolving battlefield means that American soldiers must be equally at ease using satellite- guided weapons as they are on donkeys while flushing adversaries out of caves. This landscape requires that the United States be able to insert warfighters anywhere in the world at a moment’s notice—and sometimes bring them back without anyone having known they were there.

Modern threats range from the physical (such as roadside and suicide bombs) to the electronic (such as nonstate actors using satellite communication systems and exploiting the Internet to advance military goals). Indeed, the globalization of technology has emboldened adversaries to challenge America’s air and space superiority, as well as its superiority in C4ISR (command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance) and force projection. Now more than ever, LANL must partner with the Department of Defense to respond successfully to future global challenges through technical innovation and delivery of game-changing capabilities to modern warfighters and planners alike.

Core Capabilities

Since its creation in 1943, LANL has been at the forefront in providing the Department of Defense and its subordinate organizations with high-leverage, game-changing technology. As part of its core weapons mission, Los Alamos has developed broad and unique fabrication capabilities, materials-science depth, and processes and systems designed to address warfighter needs in an environment that preserves the element of surprise. Key capabilities include the following:

• Nuclear Weapons: LANL serves as the design and certification agency for key nuclear weapons and has a Presidentially mandated role in national nuclear deterrence.
• National Security: The extent of such collaborations is deliberately kept secret to provide America’s warfighters with maximum advantage. LANL’s core strength is housed in a uniquely fundamental and multidisciplinary science and technology foundation from which scientists and engineers deliver solutions that meet the modern warfighter’s needs in an ever-changing environment. LANL’s weapons mission continues to provide
  • an exceptionally strong foundation in offensive and defensive applications of information technologies,
  • the development of specialized munitions and energetic materials,
  • modeling and simulation of complex phenomena and events at a global scale, and
  • directed-energy.