The US military has announced it will try to develop a new nuclear bomb more than 20 times more powerful than the one dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, in August 1945 that led to the end of World War II.
A Defense Department fact sheet says the new weapon, dubbed the B61-13, will have an explosive yield similar to the 360 kilotons of TNT of the B61-7 bomb.
By comparison, the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima had an explosive yield of 15 kilotons of TNT — making the new bomb 24 times more powerful.
The creation of B61-13 must first be approved and funded by Congress.
If that happens, manufacturing the new weapons will be the job of the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration.
“Today’s announcement reflects the changing security environment and the growing threat from potential adversaries,” Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy John Plumb said in a statement Friday.
The US Department of Defense announced its plans to build a new nuclear bomb.AP
“The United States has a responsibility to continue to assess and demonstrate the capabilities we need to credibly deter and, if necessary, respond to strategic attacks, and provide reassurance to our allies.”
The announcement comes nearly a year after the publication of the Pentagon’s Nuclear Posture Review, which called on the US to rapidly modernize its aging nuclear stockpile with China to have at least 1,000 warheads by 2030.
“At a time of increased nuclear risk, a strategy of partial modification no longer serves our interests,” the report said. “We must develop and provide a balanced and flexible savings that can afford [keeping up with] threat, respond to uncertainty, and maintain effectiveness.”
The B61-13 will be designed to explode on “tougher and wider military targets” when dropped from modern aircraft.Getty Images
It is estimated that Russia has 5,977 nuclear warheads, while the US has 5,428, according to the Federation of American Scientists.
The B61-13 will be made with warheads reused from old bombs, and will be designed to attack “harder and wider military targets,” according to the Pentagon.
It will also “include the modern, safety, security and accuracy features” of the Obama-era B61-12.
President Biden previously campaigned to reduce the world’s use of nuclear weapons.dpa/picture alliance via Getty Images
The announcement drew cautious approval from top Republicans on the House and Senate Armed Services committees, who said it was “just a modest step in the right direction.”
“The B61-13 is not a long-term solution, but it will prepare our commanders, especially in [the Indo-Pacific] and [Europe] with more flexibility towards this set of targets,” said Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) and Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.). “As the Strategic Posture Commission recently stated, China and Russia are in a full-blown arms race, and the US is competing. A dramatic transformation of our deterrence posture — not a gradual or piecemeal change — is needed to address this threat.”
“Since taking office, the Biden Administration has taken a balanced approach between maintaining a safe, secure and effective nuclear deterrent and a strong and credible advanced deterrence, and taking the necessary steps to reduce the global importance of nuclear weapons and bring us closer to a world without nuclear weapons,” a spokesman for the National Security Council told The Post Monday.
The proposed new bomb would be 24 times more powerful than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima.AP
“Pursuing B61-13 is consistent with that approach.”
In July, the Congressional Budget Office reported that “the nation’s current nuclear power is reaching the end of their service life, and some delivery systems may not be able to extend their service life.”
A month earlier, President Biden warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s threat to use tactical nuclear weapons was “real”.
Biden has previously warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s threat to use nuclear weapons is “real”. POOL/AFP via Getty Images
Earlier this month, the Pentagon’s annual assessment of “Military and Security Developments involving the People’s Republic of China,” produced for Congress, revealed that China may have exceeded its estimated number of nuclear warheads last year.
As of May, Beijing had about 500 nukes – up from an estimated 400 a year earlier.
China has also expanded its navy to about 370 ships, up from about 340 last year, according to the report.
With Postal wire
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
