U.S. to develop new variant of nuclear bomb: Details

The United States will produce the B61-13 nuclear gravity bomb through the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) of the Department of Energy.

"The decision to pursue this capability, which was undertaken in close collaboration with the NNSA, responds to the demands of a rapidly evolving security environment as described in the 2022 Nuclear Posture Review," the statement said.

Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy John Plumb states that today's announcement reflects the changing security environment and growing threats from potential adversaries.

"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.

Details about the new bomb

The B61-13 will be delivered using modern aircraft, enhancing deterrence against adversaries and providing assurance to allies and partners while giving the President additional options against certain more complex and large military targets.

It will replace some of the B61-7s in the current nuclear stockpiles and will have a yield similar to the B61-7 but higher than the B61-12.

Plumb notes that the production of the B61-13 will not increase the total number of weapons in the U.S. nuclear arsenal. The Pentagon is now awaiting approvals and appropriations from the U.S. Congress.

Nuclear blackmail by Russia

Recently, Russia withdrew its ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty.

Ukraine's Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, Oleksiy Danilov, has mentioned that Russia's nuclear threats will continue to be an empty bluff until other countries succumb to such blackmail.

Today, Danilov reports that the Russians failed in the testing of their missiles during a "massive nuclear strike" exercise, with only one out of three missiles launching.