The first production unit of the B61-13 gravity bomb is complete, nearly a year ahead of schedule, Pantex Plant prime PanTeXas Deterrence announced Monday.
The first production unit was completed four months after the announcement of the last production unit for the B61-12. Pantex program manager Taylor Massey said in a press release Monday that the team leveraged attributes of the B61-12 to accelerate B61-13 design, authorization and testing within a year.
In April, a National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) spokesperson made similar comments, and in a recent hearing acting NNSA administrator Teresa Robbins attributed the accelerated delivery to an “existing production line”.
“The remarkable speed of the B61-13’s production is a testament to the ingenuity of our scientists and engineers and the urgency we face to fortify deterrence in a volatile new age,” Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said in remarks Monday at the Pantex Plant. “It was my honor today to stamp the first completed unit at the Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas, where all the efforts of NNSA’s labs, plants, and sites culminated in this amazing milestone.”
According to the 2025 Stockpile Stewardship Management Plan (SSMP), which NNSA released in October, the B61-13’s first production unit was originally planned for fiscal 2026. The SSMP also projected the B61-13 will finish production in fiscal year 2028, but the Pantex press release said completion is now expected by fiscal 2027.
The B61 family of bombs is currently deployed from the U.S. Air Force and NATO bases, NNSA said. The gravity bomb itself is the oldest in the U.S. arsenal, with over 50 years of service, and the B61-13 is one of seven warhead modernization programs executed by NNSA.
