In this article:
Assembly of first B61-13 nuclear bomb completed
US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright announced at the Pantex Plant on May 19, 2025 that the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (DOE/NNSA) has completed the manufacture of the first B61-13 gravity bomb, the latest modification to the B61 family of nuclear weapons. The first unit was assembled almost a year before the original target date and less than two years after the program was first announced, making the B61-13 one of the most rapidly developed and fielded weapons since the Cold War.
“Modernizing America’s nuclear stockpile is essential to delivering President Trump’s peace through strength agenda,” said Secretary of Energy Chris Wright in a DOE/NNSA news release. “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. It was my honor today to stamp the first completed unit at the Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas, where all the efforts of NNSA’s labs, plants, and sites culminated in this amazing milestone. This achievement signals American strength to our adversaries and allies alike.”
Only for delivery by strategic bomber aircraft
A mainstay of the air leg of the United States’ nuclear Triad, the B61 is the longest-serving and most versatile weapon in the US nuclear stockpile. While the B61 family can be delivered by a broad range of fighter and bomber aircraft, the B61-13 will only be certified for delivery by strategic bomber aircraft and deployed from bases in the continental United States. The B61-13 is one of seven ongoing warhead modernization programs NNSA is executing to ensure the reliability and effectiveness of the nuclear stockpile.
The bomb modification involved the use of proven production capabilities that supported the B61-12, which completed its last production unit just five months ago. The B61-13 incorporates the same modern safety, security, and accuracy features as the B61-12 but features a yield oriented to the defeat of certain harder and large-area military targets.
The Nuclear Security Enterprise, in coordination with the US Air Force, completed the first unit of the B61-13 on a greatly accelerated schedule. Decades of B61 design and qualification data gave NNSA’s program managers and engineers from the national laboratories and production plants confidence that they could accept calculated risks to speed production. By streamlining or in some cases combining “design gates”—the rigorous reviews conducted at each step of a weapon design process—engineers were able to commence production far sooner than a standard schedule would allow. These efficiencies allowed B61-13 hardware “test builds” to be manufactured just three months after the program received authorization and appropriation from Congress.
Providing the President with additional nuclear options
“Accelerating production of the B61-13 while maintaining the highest standards of safety and security, and without disrupting our other six modernization programs, is a remarkable achievement,” said David Hoagland, Acting Deputy Administrator for Defense Programs. “Balancing programmatic risk against the urgency of the deterrence mission showed great creativity and foresight on the part of our program managers and engineers. I’m confident many of these practices can be applied to future weapon modernization efforts, with promising implications for their delivery timelines.”
The B61-13 will provide the President with additional nuclear options against certain harder and large-area military targets; separately, the Department of Defense will coordinate with NNSA to complete and implement a comprehensive strategy for the defeat of hard and deeply buried targets.
The B61-13 team reprioritized qualification activities, planned tests with US Air Force stakeholders and jointly completed requirements with Los Alamos National Laboratory and NNSA. Their creativity in system qualification put an aggressive set of plans in motion to meet stakeholder expectations.
The B61-13 will strengthen deterrence of adversaries and assurance of allies and partners by providing the President with additional options against certain harder and large-area military targets.
B61-13 nuclear bomb facts
A more challenging security environment
- The 2022 Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) observed that U.S. competitors continue to expand, diversify, and modernize their nuclear forces while increasing reliance on nuclear weapons.
- The NPR charted a balanced approach to the security environment, investing in deterrence while renewing a commitment to pursue arms control and other risk reduction measures.
- As the security environment evolves, it is necessary for us to consider nuclear force adjustments to assure our ability to achieve deterrence and other objectives.
Additional flexibility
• The B61-13 will replace some of the B61-7s in the current stockpile, pending Congressional authorization and appropriation.
• The B61-13 will have a yield similar to the B61-7, which is higher than that of the B61- 12. The B61-13 will include the modern safety, security, and accuracy features of the B61-12.
• While the B61-13 will provide the President with additional options against certain harder and large-area military targets, the Department of Defense will separately continue its work to complete and implement a comprehensive strategy for defeat of hard and deeply buried targets, as directed in the Nuclear Posture Review.
A balanced approach
- Deterrence and assurance are enhanced if the United States can continue to deny an adversary sanctuary from attack.
- The B61-13 will provide the President with additional options against certain harder and large-area military targets, even while the Department works to retire legacy systems such as the B83-1 and the B61-7.
- The B61-13 will not increase the overall number of weapons in the U.S. stockpile. The number of B61-12s to be produced will be lowered by the same amount as the number of B61-13s produced.
- This initiative follows several months of review and consideration. The fielding of the B61-13 is not in response to any spec
Photo credit: National Nuclear Security Administration
