In the USA, 480 of the latest B61-12F thermonuclear aviation bombs will be manufactured and put on combat duty by 2025. This is three times more than the current arsenal of the country. The bombs are intended for use with fighters and bombers of the fifth and fourth generation, as well as with promising military aircraft of various types. New ammunition was able to plan and homing system.
At the end of November, it was reported that the United States had completed the development of a new tactical nuclear bomb B61-12 and would soon begin its mass production. It was reported that in 2022 they will be delivered to replace outdated versions of this aerial bomb (B61-3 and B61-4) to American warehouses in the continental United States and Europe.
According to various estimates, the United States currently has from 100 to 150 nuclear bombs in the European theater of operations for use by tactical aviation. And now there was a message that in a few years the United States plans to increase its arsenal several times. This number exceeds the arsenals of nuclear weapons at the disposal of China, France, Britain, Pakistan, India, North Korea and Israel.
The latest bombs are designed to be dropped from supersonic B-2 Spirit bombers, 5th generation F-35A block4 fighters, as well as older F-15E and F-16C/D, F/A-18, Eurofighter-Tornado. In addition, according to available data, they can be suspended from F-15E and F-16C/D, F/A-18, Eurofighter-Tornado aircraft of non-nuclear NATO member countries.
The B61-12 bomb is distinguished by its ability to plan and homing head. The tail makes the bomb controllable and more accurate, which makes it possible not to lower it with a parachute, but to drop it from an airplane flying at high altitude. The dropped bomb autonomously plans towards the target for many kilometers, if necessary, “steering” to her.
Its power can vary from 0.3-1.5 to 10 or 50 Klt. The manufacturer of these weapons of mass destruction is the Pantex plant in Texas. Since the beginning of November, about a dozen similar munitions have already been made there. Recall that American nuclear weapons are currently deployed in Germany, Turkey, Belgium, the Netherlands and Italy.
The US National Nuclear Safety Administration (NNSA) last week reported that the production of new nuclear bombs was launched at the end of November at the Pantex plant in Texas. According to reports, the United States already has at least ten of these new munitions.
The B61-12 nuclear bombs are a modification of the previous versions of the B61-3, 4, 7, 10 and 11 ammunition. They are designed to equip the B-2 Spirit strategic stealth bombers and the B-21 Raider being developed, as well as American and other NATO fighter-bombers in Europe. America has already started supplying Poland with multifunctional fighter-bombers F-35A block4, adapted for throwing B61-12. There is an opinion that in the future, an American warehouse will also appear in this country, where ammunition will be stored.
Recall that this is the most powerful weapon in the world. A thermonuclear bomb can be made much more powerful than an atomic one. The explosive power of an atomic bomb is the result of an ultrafast release of energy, which occurs due to a chain reaction of nuclear fission of a heavy chemical element, for example, uranium-235 or plutonium. Thermonuclear bomb explosion(it is also called hydrogen) occurs in two stages. It begins with the detonation of an atomic bomb, called the initiator. As a result of this first explosion, conditions are created for the convergence of two hydrogen nuclei so that they can connect. This is the second stage, which is called synthesis.
Source: https://www.interfax.ru/