As stated on the official website of the Ministry of Defense, the initiative was the result of several months of analysis and discussions. For now, engineers are awaiting Congressional approval. B61-13 should become the most modern version of this technology.

What is known

The announcement clearly states that this decision was driven by the current “changing security environment and increasing threats from potential adversaries.”

The United States must continue to assess and deploy the forces and assets necessary to credibly deter and, if necessary, respond to strategic attacks and assure our allies that:
– said Deputy Secretary of Defense for Space Policy John Plumb.

• B61-13 will be delivered with modern aircraft.
• It will be effective against heavy military targets and over a wide area.
• The missile will replace some of the B61-7s in the current nuclear arsenal and will have a similar and higher yield than its predecessor, the B61-12.
• The B61-13 should inherit the best features of the 12 model, but will receive more modern safety, security and accuracy features.

John Plumb also says production of the new version will not increase the total number of warheads in the US nuclear arsenal. This means that the country will destroy some of the old ones.