What are the debates surrounding the use of low-yield weapons? Ironically, the primary atomic explosion would be considered a low-yield warhead, although it is about 6.5 kilotons of explosive force. Those bombs are built with two interrelated components: one creates an atomic explosion which in turn triggers a load of hydrogen fuel that greatly increases the magnitude of the explosion. Cirincione said one possibility in fitting a low-yield warhead to a ballistic missile would involve the adaptation of Hydrogen bombs. While the 2018 NPR says that there are no plans to increase the nuclear stockpile, this strategy in effect could increase the number of low-yield nuclear weapons. In the newly released Nuclear Posture Review, the Trump administration signaled it is developing a strategy in which low-yield nuclear war heads will be attached to ballistic missiles that could be launched by submarines and delivered thousands of miles away.
also has a version of the B-61 on an air-launched cruise missile that is carried by B-52 bombers. Cirincione said these are not traditional low-yield weapons because they can be calibrated to a specific explosive yield ranging from. Nearly half of this low-yield stockpile is in the form of “gravity bombs” or “airdrop” bombs called B-61s. Around 150 are currently in Europe, Cirinicione said, while the rest have been pulled pack to the U.S. The current active total stockpile of nuclear weapons is about 4,480 with 1,740 deployed.Īccording to Bell and Cirincione, about1,000 bombs in this stockpile are low-yield nuclear weapons. However, a significant amount of these weapons is either “retired” or are being held in “reserve.” currently has a total inventory of about 6,780 nuclear weapons. How many low-yield nuclear weapons does the US have in its stockpile?Ī 2017 report of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists estimated that the U.S. The atomic bomb dropped over Hiroshima was 15 kilotons and the one dropped over Nagasaki was around 20 kilotons. “That is… ‘only’ 10 thousand tons of explosive force or…1,000 MOABs.” “When people talk low-yield, what they generally mean is something that is down like Hiroshima size,” Cirincione said. over Nagasaki and Hiroshima at the end of World War II. That is equivalent to the sizes of bombs dropped by the U.S. 1 kilotons to 10, 20, or 50 kilotons, according to Cirincione, the explosive yield from a low-yield nuclear weapon is equivalent to 1,000 MOABs. While low-yield nuclear bombs can range from. The last time this bomb was dropped was in Afghanistan in 2017 by the Trump administration.Īccording to Joe Cirincione, the president of the Ploughshares Fund, a non-profit that funds organization and people working to eliminate nuclear weapons, the explosive yield from the MOAB is around 11 tons, about 44 times the size of a conventional bomb. arsenal is the “Mother of all Bombs,” or MOAB. The largest conventional weapon in the U.S. For example, the explosive yield from a conventional bomb that is dropped by bombers would be about 500 pounds. How destructive is a “low-yield” nuclear bomb?Įxperts said that the most important thing to remember when talking about nuclear weapons, whether low-yield or large-yield, is understanding how big any of these weapons actually are.Ī nuclear bomb is measured in terms of its explosive yield, which is referenced in terms of “tons,” “kilotons,” and “megatons” of the TNT explosive power they put off. Here are answers to three important questions about these so-called low-yield nuclear weapons: 1.
“These things aren’t little…It concerns me that they talk about them like they are not a big deal.” “Coming down to low-yield is coming back to the kind of weapons that were used in World War II,” Bell said.
Moreover, they say, a strategy that depends on the possible use of smaller bombs could enhance the chance that a nuclear weapon will be used.Īlexandra Bell, a director of policy with the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, stressed that talking about low-yield nuclear weapons as if they are “small” can be dangerous. WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump’s new nuclear strategy emphasizes a strategic shift towards the use of “low-yield” nuclear weapons to increase deterrence against mounting nuclear threats from Russia, China, and North Korea.Įxperts have questioned this decision, saying that the term “low-yield” is a deceptive description of these nuclear weapons.