An Air Force B-2 Just Tested A New Bomb, And America's Nuclear Triad Got Deadlier

[rangerrebew]

December 10, 2019

An Air Force B-2 Just Tested A New Bomb, And America's Nuclear Triad Got Deadlier

A long-planned upgrade to America's air leg has finally arrived.
by Kris Osborn

Key point: The B61 Mod 12 is engineered with a special “Tail Subassembly” to give the bomb increased accuracy.
 

The Air Force’s B-2 Stealth bomber has test-dropped an upgraded, multi-function B61-12 nuclear bomb which improves accuracy, integrates various attack options into a single bomb and changes the strategic landscape with regard to nuclear weapons mission possibilities.

Earlier this summer, the Air Force dropped a B61-12 nuclear weapon from a B-2 at Nellis AFB, marking a new developmental flight test phase for the upgraded bomb, Air Force spokeswoman Capt. Hope Cronin told Warrior Maven earlier this year.

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/air-force-b-2-just-tested-new-bomb-and-americas-nuclear-triad-got-deadlier-103597

[thackney]

The B61-12 air-launched tactical bomb will carry a low-yield nuclear warhead to destroy military targets with minimum collateral damage. Located in the bomb’s middle section, the warhead will have four yield options, including 0.3kt, 1.5kt, 10kt, and 50kt.

https://www.airforce-technology.com/projects/b61-12-nuclear-bomb/

[PeteS in CA]

The B61-12 air-launched tactical bomb will carry a low-yield nuclear warhead to destroy military targets with minimum collateral damage. Located in the bomb’s middle section, the warhead will have four yield options, including 0.3kt, 1.5kt, 10kt, and 50kt.

https://www.airforce-technology.com/projects/b61-12-nuclear-bomb/

So all but the latter are less powerful than the Hiroshima A-bomb.

[thackney]

So all but the latter are less powerful than the Hiroshima A-bomb.

Yeah, I had to go searching.  I was thinking accuracy in a bomb that takes out a city seems strange.  But the bottom end of the dial-a-bomb helps explain that desire.