Headline Roundup • October 30th, 2023
US Announces Plans to Update Its Nuclear Arsenal
Defense And Security,Biden Administration,Nuclear,Nuclear Tests,Russia,Middle East,Pentagon,Department Of Defense
Summary from the AllSides News Team
The Pentagon is seeking congressional approval for its pursuit of a new nuclear weapon, which would serve to update US nuclear arsenals.
The Details: The weapon, the B61-13, is a variant of the B61 series of weapons that the U.S. first introduced in the 1960s. Production will not expand the U.S. arsenal, as the production of B61-12s will be lowered inversely, as B61-13s are produced. The weapon is estimated to be 22-24x stronger than the weapons dropped on Japan in World War II.
For Context: U.S. nuclear weapon development has been mostly paused since the fall of the USSR. The Department of Defense attributed the proposed advancements to no specific event, but a “changing security environment,” which includes ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and Israel. Last week, Russia’s parliament passed a law that withdraws the nation from the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.
Key Quote: A Congressional Budget Office report on the replacement effort said, “The nation's current nuclear forces are reaching the end of their service life, and some delivery systems may not be capable of having their service life extended further.”
How The Media Covered It: Fox News (Right bias) included context on a recent nuclear test conducted in Nevada earlier this month. Newsweek (Center bias) said during Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign, he pledged if elected, he would "work to bring (the U.S.) closer to a world without nuclear weapons, so that the horrors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are never repeated."
Featured Coverage of this Story
Celal Gunes/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
The Department of Defense announced Saturday the US plans to add a new model of nuclear bomb to its arsenal.
The new gravity bomb will be called B61-13, a variant on the existing B61 model that was first introduced in the 1960s. The Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration will begin production pending Congressional authorization and appropriation, according to a Department of Defense statement.
The previous model, B61-12, can carry out earth-penetrating attacks, low-yield and high-yield attacks, above surface detonation, and bunker-buster options, Insider previously reported.
The move is...
ANNA MONEYMAKER; CORBIS/CORBIS VIA GETTY IMAGES
President Joe Biden's administration has proposed building a new nuclear bomb as the production of weapons to replace the aging U.S. stockpile ramps up.
The Department of Defense (DoD) announced on Friday that it was pursuing the development of a new variant of the B61 gravity bomb, a type of weapon that was first produced in the 1960s, at the height of the Cold War. Until very recently, U.S. nuclear weapons production had largely been at a standstill since the Cold War ended with the dissolution of the Soviet Union...
U.S. Air Force photo by MSgt. Don Taggart
The Department of Defense announced its pursuit of a nuclear bomb that will be 24 times more powerful than one of the bombs dropped on Japan during World War II.
The Pentagon is seeking congressional approval and funding to pursue a modern variant of the B61 nuclear gravity bomb, which will be designated the B61-13, according to a DoD press release.
"Today's announcement is reflective of a changing security environment and growing threats from potential adversaries," Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy John Plumb said in the release. "The United States has...
