The United States will adopt a modernized version of the B61 nuclear bomb
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The United States will adopt a modern version of the B61 nuclear gravity bomb. About it reported on the Pentagon website.
The upgraded version will be designated B61-13. Its production will be carried out by the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) of the Department of Energy.
“Today’s announcement reflects the evolving security environment and growing threats from potential adversaries,” said Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy John Plumb.
The B61-13 will be delivered by modern aircraft, providing “additional capabilities to engage some complex and large military targets.” It will replace some of the B61-7 nuclear weapons currently in service.
“Production of the B61-13 will not increase the total number of weapons in our nuclear arsenal, although it will provide us with additional flexibility,” Plumb added.
It is emphasized that the adoption of the B61-13 is not a response to any specific event, but “reflects an ongoing assessment of the evolving security environment.”
In April, The Guardian, citing a report from the Federation of American Scientists (FAS) wrotethat one of the American B61 nuclear bombs stored at a US military base in the Netherlands may have been damaged. As the publication noted, there are six American bases in Europe, where a total of about a hundred B61 bombs are stored. In addition to the Netherlands, they are also located at US bases in Belgium, Germany, Italy and Turkey. Flight crews in these countries and Greece are trained to install them on aircraft and use them. Arms control advocates have long argued, the publication notes, that the B61 bombs are militarily obsolete and need to be removed from Europe.
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