On October 27, 2023, the US Department of Defense announced the beginning of the development of a new nuclear aircraft bomb B61-13. As far as can be judged, the B61-13 bomb should be an upgrade of the B61-7 nuclear bombs in service with the American strategic aviation (Northrop Grumman B-2A Spirit strategic bombers) to the level of the new B61-12 bomb. An up-to-date comment "On the initiative of the US Department of Defense to create a new nuclear bomb" was published by Alexander Ermakov, a researcher in the Military Economics and Innovation Sector of the Department of Military and Economic Research at the Center for International Security of the IMEMO RAS.
Combat training variant of the new American B61-12 aviation nuclear bomb before suspension on the Northrop Grumman B-2A Spirit strategic bomber of the US Air Force at Whiteman Air Base (Missouri), 06/13/2022 (c) frame from youtube
On October 27, the Pentagon published a message about plans to immediately begin a program to create a new bomb, or rather a new modification in the B61 family of thermonuclear bombs, one of the most common ammunition in the American arsenal at the height of the Cold War between the United States and the USSR. The new modification should receive the "lucky" index B61-13 as the serial thirteenth in a row.
In recent years, the B61 has been mentioned in the news mainly in connection with two topics: the advanced deployment of these American bombs at bases in Europe as part of NATO's joint nuclear missions (NATO Nuclear Sharing) and the creation of a new controlled high-precision modification - the B61-12.
The B61-13 has a lot in common with the previous version - just like the B61-12, it is proposed not to create it from scratch, but to remake existing old bombs. If the B61-12 used a charge from the B61-4 - the lightest of the family (controlled detonation power from 300 tons to 50 kt), then the B61-13 is planned, on the contrary, to be created on the basis of the most powerful bomb in the family: B61-7 with a capacity from 10 tons to 360 kt. B61-7 were considered strategic, not tactical bombs, were not placed on European air bases, and strategic bombers, not fighters, were considered as their carriers. At the moment, the only regular carrier is the inconspicuous B-2A Spirit strategic bombers.
Just like the B61-12, the B61-13 is planned to be equipped with a new tail section with an inertial guidance system (according to available information, the B61-12 are not equipped with a satellite navigation system) and a controlled tail, apparently completely similar. Thus, its circular probable deviation will be no more than 30 m. The B61-12 improved accuracy under the slogan of hitting the same target with a smaller charge, but with less collateral damage (in response to criticism, since it was about measures to reduce the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons), but the B61-13 has other goals.
From the point of view of the US military and political leadership and internal discussions in the country about the operation and modernization of their nuclear arsenal, the B61-13 program is designed to kill several birds with one stone:
- presenting it as a "re-equipment" of existing B61-7 bombs in order primarily to extend their service life and at the same time increase their reliability and safety is partly intended to protect them from criticism of anti-nuclear circles. It is worth recalling that the B61-12 program, which is undoubtedly a program for creating weapons with new capabilities, was officially approved as simply a "Life Extension Program" (LEP);
- due to the combination of a sufficiently high charge power with increased accuracy, it may become an effective replacement for the B83-1 bomb as a means of hitting underground fortified targets. It is in relation to the B83-1 with a capacity of up to 1.2 Mt that there are many opponents among American politicians and even the military, pointing to the inexpediency of preserving the arsenal at such high costs for its maintenance. Supporters of the preservation of the B83-1 demanded first to create a replacement that could be used to destroy underground facilities; these requirements were reflected in the budget. By creating a new bomb, the Pentagon responds to this request and offers to use money directly for the program from the expenditure items allocated for the operation of the B83-1. Thus, the military can get a more convenient means, and legislators and anti-nuclear circles can "boast" of the decommissioning of the "last megaton-class weapon in the United States," which is the B83-1.
The United States has already tried to create an "anti-bunker" bomb in the B61 family in the mid-1990s. The B61-11 was equipped with a slightly increased fixed power charge (400 kt) and a modified body. It was supposed to be used as classic concrete-piercing bombs - when dropped from a great height, a bomb without a parachute had to be buried into the soil at high speed and undermined in the ground, increasing the striking capability for buried targets. Judging by the fragmentary information about the test results, this attempt was unsuccessful - the bomb, initially unintended for such a "treatment", not only did not sink deep enough even into solid soils, but could also collapse with unknown consequences for the charge (there is every reason to suspect that if used against granite or reinforced concrete, the situation could be even worse). Nevertheless, the B61-11 was officially adopted, released in small quantities (no more than 50 units were converted from the same B61-7), which made it possible to remove from service the B53 - a morally and physically obsolete bomb of particularly high power (9 Mt).
Now the Pentagon plans to "repeat the maneuver", but with great success, since the B61-13 should not only be able to hit underground structures due to high accuracy (hitting, for example, entrance groups so that the shock wave goes inside through communications), but also preserve the potential of the B61-7 strategic bomb and be operated for a long time yet. The defeat of area targets is not removed from the agenda - even the Pentagon's certificate says about "providing the president with additional options for defeating buried and large ground military targets" as the main task of the program.
The Ministries of Defense and Energy of the United States (the Ministry of Energy is primarily responsible for the nuclear industry, including the military) propose to forge iron while it is hot and include the first $ 52 million of expenses for the creation of B61-13 already in the budget for 2024, which is being prepared for adoption, which has already begun in the United States (without a budget - this happens quite often). At the same time, it is emphasized that, as noted above, these are not additional expenses, but amounts from long-term expenses for B83-1. It is indicated that it is extremely important to start work without delay before the adoption of next year's budget, since then B61-13 can be started before the closure of the B61-12 series (that is, probably in 2025). This will make it possible not to freeze production and not to spend money on its resumption later.
Probably, the B61-13 bomb will receive support from American lawmakers: its submission is well thought out politically. The Hawks will see it as a program to modernize the American nuclear potential. Circles negatively related to nuclear weapons will be appeased by the write-off of the B83-1, which they have been seeking for several years, and the promise "not to increase the number of nuclear bombs in the American arsenal." For this purpose, not only charges from B61-7 will be taken, but even the number of B61-12 (480 units are planned) will be reduced due to the B61-13 series. It looks like they will literally be given the "tails" planned for the twelfth modification. The latter, apparently, will also please supporters of budget cuts. The program will not be expensive enough, and they will be able to present it as economically profitable: upgrading or even just operating the B83-1 for a long time may be more expensive.
However, in countries located beyond the oceans washing the USA, the B61-13 bomb is unlikely to be met with the same positive response. Russia and China have every reason to consider it not just as an abstract deterrent, but as a weapon aimed at defeating particularly important and fortified objects, and without a noticeable launch of a ballistic missile, but from aboard an inconspicuous bomber - both the B-2A and the promising B-21A Raider will become its carrier. Of course, there are no completely invulnerable and invisible "stealth", but it is unlikely that anyone will be pleased with the additional opportunity to check whether they are able to "sneak up" on key objects at a crisis moment.