The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) last week announced a proposal to create a new nuclear bomb, saying that it would have expanded capabilities to hit certain targets.
On October 27, the DOD said it plans to pursue the creation of “modern variant of the B61 nuclear gravity bomb, designated the B61-13, pending Congressional authorization and appropriation.”
“The B61-13 would be deliverable by modern aircraft, strengthening deterrence of adversaries and assurance of allies and partners by providing the President with additional options against certain harder and large-area military targets,” the announcement said.
The Federation of American Scientists (FAS) reported that the bomb would be equipped with a guided tail kit, allowing for increased accuracy, as well as “limited earth-penetration capabilities.”
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The FAS said that “…the B61-13’s relatively high yield and accuracy will likely enable the bomb to strike underground targets with yields equivalent to a surface-burst weapon of more than one megaton.”
While the Pentagon didn’t mention specific targets, the decision was made based on the 2022 Nuclear Posture Review. Authors of the report identified the need for the U.S. to advance its nuclear arsenal to deter China and Russia.
During a speech on August 6, 2020, the 75th anniversary of the day the U.S. dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, leading to the end of World War II, President Joe Biden spoke about the ongoing development of nuclear arms across the globe and said, “I will strengthen our alliances to keep the American people safe from nuclear and other global threats.”
He added: “And I will work to bring us closer to a world without nuclear weapons, so that the horrors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are never repeated.”
In the announcement from the DOD, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy John Plumb said: “The B61-13 represents a reasonable step to manage the challenges of a highly dynamic security environment….While it provides us with additional flexibility, production of the B61-13 will not increase the overall number of weapons in our nuclear stockpile.”
According to the FAS, the B61-13 is likely designed to be delivered by strategic bombers such as “the future B-21 and, until it is retired, possibly also the B-2.”
Newsweek reported on a visual representation created by the online tool, Nukemap, which showed that the B61-13 would have a much larger damage area than the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the latter on August 9, 1945.
Shortly after the announcement from the DOD, members of the House Armed Services Committee issued a statement calling for further enhancements to the U.S. nuclear arsenal.
“While we welcome the step of creating a variant of the B61, which will better allow the Air Force to reach hardened and deeply-buried targets, it is only a modest step in the right direction,” Representative Mike Rogers, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, and ranking member Senator Roger F. Wicker said in a joint statement. “The B61-13 is not a long-term solution, but it will provide our commanders, particularly in INDOPACOM and EUCOM, with more flexibility against these target sets.
“As the Strategic Posture Commission recently noted, China and Russia are in a full-on arms race, and the U.S. is running in place. Dramatic transformation of our deterrent posture—not incremental or piecemeal changes—is required to address this threat.”
Newsweek reached out to the Department of Defense via email for comment.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.