The United States has reportedly stepped on the gas for the development of the nuclear "gravity" bomb, a weapon of mass destruction that is set to replace the older nuclear weapons in the country. The initial plan was to start production in 2026 for the US Air Force and complete the process of replacement by 2028.

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However, the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (DOE/NNSA) had earlier estimated that phase 1 of the development would start in 2037, with the first gravity bombs being produced in 2050. But the Ukraine war led the US to push the timeline way up.

The B61-13, a nuclear "gravity bomb", is going under production at Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico. This comes in the face of growing tensions on the international stage, with the US locked in a pretty clear tussle with China.

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Scientists at the lab say that pushing up the timeline would reduce the overall production time by 25 per cent. However, officials clarified that this would not increase the country's nuclear stockpile as the production of B61-12 nuclear bombs will be scaled down.

B61-13 'gravity bomb' is much more lethal

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As the name suggests, the new nuclear bomb uses gravity assist to cause destruction. The B61-13 is 24 times more powerful than the atom bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, during World War II in 1945. The atom bomb has a yield of about 15 kilotons, which is equivalent to 15,000 tonnes of TNT.

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The B61-13 has a yield of around 360 kilotons, or 360,000 tonnes of TNT. It would be an improvement over the B61-12 nuclear bombs in terms of safety and precision. Scientists are making the B61-13 by using the warhead from the B61-7, a nuke designed in the 1980s, and combining it with the modern features of B61-12. New stealth bombers are being built to carry the gravity bomb.

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While the B61-12 can be carried by the B-2 stealth bomber and fighters like the F-15 Eagle and F-35 Lightning, the B61-13 will be placed on the B-21 Raider, which is currently under construction. 

How much destruction can B61-13 gravity bomb cause?

According to Daily Mail, experts say that it could kill an estimated 788,000 and injure 2.2 million people in a city like Beijing, vaporising everything, man and buildings, within a half-mile radius of the bomb's detonation site. Anything within a mile will be instantly killed.

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Beyond two miles, the radiation would slowly wreak havoc, and people would die within a month. Almost 15 per cent of those who manage to survive will die of cancer in the later years.

The B61-13 has been in the pipeline since 2023 as the Biden administration feared that Russia's invasion of Ukraine could escalate into events in Europe. Notably, the US has approximately 5,044 nuclear warheads, while Russia is estimated to hold 5,580 nukes.