New more powerful bomb
U.S. plans NUCLEAR bomb 24 times more powerful than Hiroshima https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12688663/Nuclear-Hiroshima-bomb-Biden-Xi-Taiwan-Putin-Pentagon.html?ito=native_share_article-nativemenubutton
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ElwoodBlues · M
@SDavis Seems it is replacing something called the B61 nuclear gravity bomb, which is a variable yield thermonuclear (aka H-bomb) of up to about 400 kilotons yield according to wikipedia.
Fox News sez:
Sounds like a drop-in replacement for aging warheads in the strategic bomber portion of our nuclear triad, with similar yields and probably similar weight.
I believe H-bombs contain duterium & tritium as part of the fuel. Tritium has a half-life of 12.33 years, which is rather short. Maybe they now have designs less dependent on tritium and thus less susceptible to aging out.
Fox News sez:
A fact sheet included with the release said the B61-13 will have a similar yield to the B61-7, which according to a Defense News report, has a maximum yield of 360 kilotons. The load is 24 times larger than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, during World War II, which was about a 15 kiloton bomb. The B61-13 would also be about 14 times larger than the bomb dropped on Nagasaki, which was 25 kilotons.
Sounds like a drop-in replacement for aging warheads in the strategic bomber portion of our nuclear triad, with similar yields and probably similar weight.
I believe H-bombs contain duterium & tritium as part of the fuel. Tritium has a half-life of 12.33 years, which is rather short. Maybe they now have designs less dependent on tritium and thus less susceptible to aging out.