US ANNOUNCES DEVELOPMENT OF POWERFUL NEW NUCLEAR BOMB
AIRPOWER, BREAKING NEWS
BY ALEX HOLLINGS
OCTOBER 27, 2023
On Friday, the Department of Defense announced a new effort to field an updated and even more powerful variant of the B61 series nuclear bomb currently in service. This new weapon, dubbed the B61-13, is expected to deliver around 360 kilotons of destructive power – 21 times the yield of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945; it will be among the most powerful nukes in the U.S. arsenal.
“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 in a Pentagon press release. “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,” he added.
According to the Pentagon, these new weapons will replace existing B61-7s that are currently being phased out.
“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.”
https://www.sandboxx.us/news/us-announces-development-of-powerful-new-nuclear-bomb/
