US nuclear arsenal will be replenished with B61-13 nuclear aircraft.
Representatives of the enterprise stressed that effective software management of the project made it possible to present a new sample of weapons almost three quarters of a year earlier. Development funding amounted to $ 92 million. The new aviation is a modernized version of the B61-7 product, but has received advanced security systems and a new managed tail module.
The design makes it possible to adjust the bomb trajectory after discharge, providing increased accuracy during impact for various purposes. The main feature of B61-13 is the variable of the charge-from 10 to 360 kiloton. This makes the ammunition with a universal means of strategic restraint. For comparison, the power of the previous version of B61-12 was up to 50 kilotonnes, and the bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945, had a capacity of about 15 kilotonic.
The first carriers of the new bomb will be B-2 Spirit strategic bombers, and then B61-13 will be integrated into a promising stell bomber B-21 Raider from Northrop Grumman. Particular attention was paid to the prevention of unauthorized use in the development.
The bomb implements built -in protection against hacking, external intervention and accidental work - critically important parameters in the face of current risks, including the threat of terrorist attacks and loss of control over the carrier. Experts say that B61-13 continues the line of American gravitational nuclear bombs, which dates back to 1968. Unlike rocket systems, gravitational ammunition is dropped from the aircraft and not equipped with engines.