America's Newest Nuclear Weapon Is Also Its Most Dangerous

Zachary Keck, National Interest: The Most Dangerous Nuclear Weapon in America's Arsenal

The United States maintains an extensive nuclear arsenal. According to the Federation of Atomic Scientists, in April of this year the United States maintained an arsenal of over 7,200 nuclear bombs. Of those, more than 2,000 were deployed (1,900 strategic nuclear weapons and 180 non-strategic weapons).

America also maintains a plethora of delivery options for its nuclear bombs. As part of its nuclear triad, it maintains some 94 nuclear-capable bombers (B-2s and B-52s), over 400 Minuteman III ICBMs and 12 Ohio-class ballistic missile nuclear submarines. The latter are equipped with modern Trident II submarine-launched ballistic missiles, which are drastic improvements over their land-based competitors.

WNU Editor: For a 50K nuclear weapon (more than 5x the size of the Hiroshima bomb), the bomb itself looks very small (see above video).

More Mews On The B61-12 Nuclear Gravity Bomb

This new nuclear-armed US bomb may be the most dangerous weapon in America's arsenal -- Business Insider
Our newest ‘nuke’ bomb takes shape -- Durango Herald
USAF and NNSA complete flight test of B61-12 gravity bomb -- Airforce Technology
USA tests B61-12 nuclear gravity bomb -- Sentinel Republic
Russia Calls US Nuclear Bomb Test 'Provocative' Weeks After Putin Announced Arsenal Expansion -- IBTimes
Russian Defense Ministry: New nuclear bomb test in U.S. in current situation utterly provocative -- Russia Beyond The Headlines