The Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration has completed the first B61-13 gravity bomb unit designed to defeat hard and large-area military targets.
Part of the U.S. nuclear triad’s air leg and one of the seven ongoing warhead modernization programs at NNSA, the B61-13 nuclear weapon will only be certified for deployment by strategic bomber aircraft from bases in the continental United States, the DOE said Monday.
The latest B61 modification, manufactured using the same production capabilities that supported the B61-12, incorporates the latter’s modern safety, security and accuracy features.
Decades of Data-enabled Accelerated Production
The B61-13 was completed ahead of schedule, making the latest B61 nuclear weapon modification one of the fastest to transition from development to fielding since the Cold War.
DOE attributed the rapid B61-13 production to decades of B61 design and qualification data, which gave NNSA’s program managers and engineers confidence to accept calculated risks to accelerate the manufacturing process.
“Modernizing America’s nuclear stockpile is essential to delivering President Trump’s peace through strength agenda,” said Secretary of Energy Chris Wright. “The remarkable speed of the B61-13’s production is a testament to the ingenuity of our scientists and engineers and the urgency we face to fortify deterrence in a volatile new age.
