The US delivered its first B61-13 nuclear bomb nearly a year early. With enhanced yield and precision, it modernizes a key part of the nuclear triad amid rising global tensions.

The B61-13 will have a yield similar to the B61-7 (reportedly 340-360 kt), reusing its warhead, and will include the modern safety, security, and accuracy features of the B61-12.

Completion of the B61-13 first production unit is the result of close collaboration among Sandia and Los Alamos national laboratories, the Kansas City National Security Campus, the Pantex Plant, Y ...

Now, the B61-13 builds on that groundwork with updated features and streamlined production processes. “The FPU is just the start,” said Kelly Beierschmitt, president and general manager of Pantex.

The B61-13 offers the President more nuclear options for tough and wide-area military targets, while the Department of Defense (DOD) and DOE/NNSA work together on a strategy to address “hard and ...

“The B61-13 represents a reasonable step to manage the challenges of a highly dynamic security environment,” said John Plumb, assistant secretary of defense for space policy at DOD.

B61-13: The US Is Planning To Build A New Nuclear Gravity Bomb The bomb will be around 22.5 times more powerful than the one dropped on Hiroshima.

Two technologists at Sandia National Laboratories place the final screws in a B61-13 high-fidelity unit. The B61-13 first production unit was completed in May at the Pantex Plant, and is one of ...

The B61-13 would replace some of the B61-7 variants that are now in the U.S. nuclear stockpile and produce a larger explosion than the most recent version of the bomb — the B61-12, which has ...

The B61-13 variable yield gravity bomb is going into full production seven months ahead of schedule, according to a statement by the Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

The B61-13 is set to replace a portion of the existing B61-7s in the current nuclear stockpile while maintaining a yield similar to the B61-7 (360 kilotons), which is greater than that of the B61-12.

The B61-13 bomb variant would be deliverable by modern aircraft, more accurate, and replace some of the B61-7s in the nuclear stockpile, defense officials said.