The Department of Defense is working on a nuclear bomb that will be 24 times more powerful than one of the bombs dropped on Japan during World War II.
The department announced Friday that the Pentagon is seeking congressional approval and funding to pursue a modern variant of the B61 nuclear gravity bomb.
The government has made several variants of the B61 bomb since WWII. This new version would reportedly carry a yield of 360 kilotons and would create a larger explosion than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, which was roughly 15 kilotons.
Officials said the decision to develop a more powerful nuclear bomb is not in response to any specific current event but was made in the face of a "rapidly evolving security environment."
"[This] announcement is reflective of a changing security environment and growing threats from potential adversaries. The United States has a responsibility to continue to assess and field the capabilities we need to credibly deter and, if necessary, respond to strategic attacks, and assure our allies," Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy John Plumb said in a statement.
The Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) would produce the modern bomb, known as B61-13.
"The B61-13 would be deliverable by modern aircraft, strengthening deterrence of adversaries and assurance of allies and partners by providing the President with additional options against certain harder and large-area military targets," the department said.
The new bomb would replace some of the B61-7s in the current nuclear stockpile, officials added, and will be equipped with "the modern safety, security, and accuracy features of the B61-12," the most recent version of the bomb.
"The B61-13 represents a reasonable step to manage the challenges of a highly dynamic security environment," said Plumb. "While it provides us with additional flexibility, production of the B61-13 will not increase the overall number of weapons in our nuclear stockpile."