US tests new nuclear gravity bomb

[Ulquiorra]

A new US nuclear gravity bomb – set to be part of the Pentagon’s weapons overhaul - has been successfully tested.

The B61-12 device completed two ‘end-to-end-tests’ when it was dropped from a B-2 bomber over a Nevada test range last month.

Although the weapons did not carry live nuclear warheads, they simulated the precise procedures of an actual mission.

“These qualification flight tests demonstrate the B61-12 design meets system requirements and illustrate the continued progress of the B61-12 life extension program to meet national security requirements” Brigadier General Michael Lutton, of the US Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration said in a statement.

The B61-12 has been designed with moving fins and rockets for flight stability and improved accuracy, although its exact capabilities remain top secret.

Commentators believe it will be fitted with a ‘dial-a-yield’ capability – which can limit the explosive force of the detonation. Before a strike mission, the weapon can reportedly be set with a nuclear yield as low as 0.3 kilotons – which is less powerful than the atomic bombs dropped on Japan in 1945.

The feature would enable the B61-12 to be launched against thickly protected targets such as underground concrete bunkers while limiting nuclear fallout.

The bomb is part of the Trump administration’s overhaul of the US atomic arsenal, which calls for the increased development of low-yield nukes.