The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) announced a new modernized nuclear bomb that will increase the military’s readiness to deter aggression and launch strategic attacks if needed.
The new bomb, designated the B61-13, will be a modernized version of the B61 nuclear gravity bomb and will be deliverable by modern aircraft to the target.
“Today’s announcement is reflective of a changing security environment and growing threats from potential adversaries,” said Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy John Plumb. “The United States has a responsibility to continue to assess and field the capabilities we need to credibly deter and, if necessary, respond to strategic attacks, and assure our allies.”
“The B61-13 represents a reasonable step to manage the challenges of a highly dynamic security environment,” said Plumb. “While it provides us with additional flexibility, production of the B61-13 will not increase the overall number of weapons in our nuclear stockpile.”
The DOD said that the new bomb would include more features that enhance its safety, security, and accuracy.
The Federation of American Scientists notes though that the reason for the new bomb appears to be in-part a political push by the Biden administration to “get rid of the last megaton-yield weapon in the US arsenal: the B83-1.”
The B83-1 is currently the most powerful weapon in the U.S. military stockpile with a yield of over 1 megaton, which is equivalent to 1 million tons of TNT.
“The B61-13 will have the same maximum yield as the B61-7 (360 kilotons), according to defense officials, a significant increase compared with the 50-kiloton B61-12 it is intended to supplement,” the report said.
A 360 kiloton blast is 24 times more powerful than the atomic bomb that the U.S. dropped on Hiroshima, Japan — which had a 15 kiloton yield — in the final days of WWII.