The United States Department of Defense (DOD) revealed a new nuclear bomb that has been updated. This will make the military more ready to defend against invasion and launch strategic strikes if needed.
The new bomb called the B61-13, will be an updated form of the B61 nuclear gravity bomb. It is designed to be dropped on the target by modern airplanes.
Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy John Plumb stated, “Today’s announcement shows how the security situation is changing and how threats from possible enemies are growing. The US must keep looking at and putting together the tools we need to effectively prevent and, when necessary, react to strategic attacks and reassure our allies.”
“The B61-13 is a logical step toward addressing the difficulties in an extremely dynamic security environment,” Plumb stated. “The production of the B61-13 will not add to the total number of nuclear weapons we already have even though it gives us more flexibility.”
It was said by the DOD that the new bomb would have more safety, security, and accuracy features.
On the other hand, the Federation of American Scientists says that the new bomb seems to have been made in part to “eliminate the very last megaton-yield weapon inside the United States arsenal: the B83-1.”
With a yield of more than 1 megaton, or one million tons of TNT, the B83-1 is now considered to be the most powerful weapon in the United States military arsenal.
“Defense officials say the B61-13 will be equipped with the same maximum yield that comes from the B61-7, which is 360 kilotons. This is a big jump from the 50-kiloton B61-12 it is meant to replace,” the story said.
In the last days of WWII, the United States launched an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. This bomb had a 15-kiloton output, which means it was 24 times stronger.
