WASHINGTON: A massive nuclear weapon is being developed at the US military centre as a threat to Russia and China. The US Department of Defense has revealed that it is developing a new version of the B61 nuclear gravity bomb. The United States is developing the B61 nuclear gravity bomb to counter threats from its main nuclear rivals- China and Russia.

The B61-13 has similar features to the B61-7 version. Its maximum weight is 360 kilotons. It is 24 times more powerful than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima and 14 times larger than the bomb dropped on Nagasaki in 1945. According to military sources, the new model will also incorporate modern safety and accuracy features of the earlier B61-12.

The new weapon will include the same warheads as the B61-7 versions of the 1980s and 1990s, Hans M. Kristensen, a nuclear weapons expert at the Federation of American Scientists, told Defense News. The Pentagon also announced that aircraft with the most advanced facilities will carry the new nuclear weapon.

Former President Barack Obama had rejected the decision to develop new nuclear weapons. However, Donald Trump, who succeeded Obama, changed that decision. Current US President Joe Biden revived efforts to abandon the decision to build new nuclear weapons and faced opposition from Republican lawmakers. However, some US senators welcomed the decision to develop a new bomb. There is no doubt that the new nuclear weapon will pose a threat to China and Russia.