US scientists and military have simulated dropping nuclear bombs on Moscow and St. Petersburg to target Russian ICBM launch silos in a major nuclear first-strike exercise .
The exercise was conducted in anticipation of the transfer of two squadrons of nuclear-capable F-35s to Great Britain.
It is noted that along the way all nuclear-capable F-35s in Europe will be equipped with the new nuclear bombs
"The United States decided to simulate nuclear strikes on Moscow and St. Petersburg with these weapons and to predict the results, that is, to count the number of victims among the inhabitants of the area," reports the American magazine Newsweek, giving some details .
The authors of the report pointed to the need to improve the US nuclear arsenal to contain China and Russia.
Production of the B61-13 will not increase the total number of weapons in the US nuclear arsenal, it will simply provide greater flexibility in the use of existing capabilities.
The B61-13 would have a much larger impact area and hit 24 times more powerfully (360 kilotons) than the bomb dropped by the United States on Hiroshima in August 1945.
In the event of a drop on the largest Russian megacities, the damage will be colossal.
It is estimated that:
- 311,480 people will be killed and another 868,860 injured if Moscow is hit.
- Everything in a radius of just under 1 km from the epicenter will turn to dust
- the explosion will destroy buildings and probably kill everyone else within a 1 mile radius.
- People within a 3 kilometer radius will suffer from high levels of radiation and die within a month.
- Another 15% of survivors will die shortly afterwards of cancer.
- In St. Petersburg, 360,150 people may die and another 685,930 people will suffer.
The fire from the explosion will burn for more than six hours, creating a deadly atmosphere over an area of nearly 170 square km, about 10-15 times larger than in Hiroshima.
The British confirm the American simulations.
"Simulations of dropping a 360-kiloton American bomb on Moscow show that it would cause hundreds of thousands of casualties, around a million injuries and widespread devastation"
The US Department of Defense has announced that the US government is developing a new version of the B61 gravity nuclear bomb, codenamed the B61-13, which will be better performing than the B61-12 and will replace a significant number of of older bombs of this class.
In particular, the Pentagon stated that the decision to build this weapon was made in the context of recent developments and the changing security environment surrounding the proliferation and development of nuclear weapons, at a time when both Russia and China are increasing their their nuclear arsenals and therefore it becomes imperative for the US military to take the necessary steps to strengthen nuclear deterrence.
The bulletin issued by the US Department of Defense points out that the upgraded B61-13 gravity nuclear bomb will have the advanced safety and precision features of the B61-12 bombs, but will have an adjustable yield between 340-360 kilotons like the B61-7 type bombs, which will give the Americans the capability of highly destructive and effective nuclear strikes on underground targets with enhanced protection and armor, that is, the enemy's ICBM launch silos with nuclear warheads.
The US Department of Defense has specified that the construction and development of the B61-13 nuclear gravity bomb will replace both the older B83-1 and B61-7 bombs, while potentially replacing an equal number of B61-12 bombs that will be retired and therefore the total number of nuclear weapons will not increase.
It is also emphasized that the new generation aircraft, whether it is the F-35 fifth generation multi-role stealth fighters or the B-21 fifth generation stealth strategic bombers, will be able to carry and launch the new nuclear gravity bombs.
It remains unknown when the exercise took place and the specific shot as the Russian Ministry of Defense did not release this information.
According to the Russian Ministry of Defense.
"As part of the final phase of the test program, the new nuclear-powered strategic missile submarine Imperator Alexander III successfully launched a Bulava intercontinental ballistic missile from the White Sea" towards the Kamchatka Peninsula, Russian media said in a statement . information.
"The launch of a ballistic missile is the last element in the package of state tests, after which a decision will be made on the submarine's acceptance into the Navy," the Defense Ministry said in a statement on the Telegram messaging app.
The intercontinental ballistic missile, launched into the White Sea off Russia's northern coast, hit a target thousands of kilometers away on the Kamchatka Peninsula in the Russian Far East.
The navy has three Borei-class submarines in service – one completing trials and three more under construction, the defense ministry said.
The Borei-A class "Emperor Alexander III" nuclear powered submarine is the newest class of nuclear powered submarines of the Russian Navy.
Each submarine can launch 16 missiles and hit ten different targets.
The weapon, RSM-56 Bulava (NATO code SS-NX-30 or SS-N-32) was declared operational in 2013 on the new Borei class nuclear ballistic missile submarines.
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