US Department of Defense Announces Plans for New Nuclear Gravity Bomb: B61-13

New B61-13 Bomb to Provide Modern Safety, Security and Accuracy Features, Aimed at Bolstering US Deterrent Capabilities Amid a Changing Global Security Landscape

• The US Department of Defense has announced plans to develop a new nuclear gravity bomb, the B61-13, as part of a larger initiative to replace the aging U.S. nuclear arsenal. This follows a period of stagnation in U.S. nuclear weapons production since the end of the Cold War in 1991.
• The B61-13, like its predecessors in the B61 series, is a tactical bomb designed to detonate after being dropped from an airplane. The new bomb is expected to strengthen deterrence of adversaries and provide assurance of allies by offering the President more options against larger and harder military targets.
• The B61-13 will incorporate modern safety, security, and accuracy features from the B61-12, an Obama-era variant. Its explosive yield will be similar to the B61-7, a bomb with a maximum yield of 360 kilotons. This yield is over 22 times the explosive force of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima during World War II.
• Despite campaign promises to bring the world closer to being free of nuclear weapons, the Biden administration has begun production on the first new nuclear weapons, including freshly produced warheads. At the same time, it has announced plans to retire the high-yield B83 bomb.
• This development is part of a massive ten-year, $750 billion effort to replace the U.S. nuclear arsenal. While the production of the B61-13 is expected to bring about a decrease in the number of B61-12s that are produced, it will not increase the overall number of weapons in the U.S. nuclear stockpile.

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