US speeds up B61-13 nuclear bomb production as programme moves further ahead of schedule
First B61-13 nuclear gravity bomb. (Photo: Sandia National Laboratories/Craig Fritz)
The US government plans to accelerate production even further after achieving key B61-13 milestones months ahead of schedule, as the programme advances amid growing US-China strategic competition.
After achieving key milestones at least three months ahead of schedule, the US government is preparing to accelerate production even further on the B61-13 nuclear gravity bomb, the latest weapon to be added to Washington’s nuclear arsenal.
Designed to address hard and deeply buried targets, the B61-13 is among the fastest-developed US nuclear weapons of the post-Cold War era. It has been in production at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, which is part of the US Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (DoE/NNSA).
An official spokesperson for NNSA told Shephard that it also intends to expedite the
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