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Munitions

United States

Sandia National Laboratories

B61

American variable-yield thermonuclear gravity bomb carried by US and NATO strategic and dual-capable aircraft, in continuous service since the 1960s through successive life-extension variants.

Compiled from public sources ·primary reference ↗ ·last verified 2026-07-05

Procurement snapshot

Availability & export

US ITAR-controlled

Export needs U.S. State Dept (DDTC) approval; end-use & re-transfer restrictions apply.

Channel: Foreign Military Sales (FMS) or Direct Commercial Sale

Fielded & proven

Operator data not public

Status: active · ~3,155 built.

Lifecycle cost (est.)

No public unit price to model from. Why so few systems publish one →

Interoperability

No standardised NATO calibre / datalink detected in public specs.

Derived guidance from public data, export regime by country of origin, lifecycle from the GAO ~30% acquisition rule. Verify eligibility, pricing and offsets with the manufacturer and your acquisition authority.

Full specifications

Firepower

Armament, payload and guidance.

Firepower specifications
Warhead type Blast-fragmentation, shaped charge (HEAT), penetrator, thermobaric or nuclear-capable.	Variable-yield thermonuclear (dial-a-yield, ~0.3-340 kt)

Physical

Dimensions, weight and crew.

Physical specifications
Length Overall length including gun/probe where applicable.	3.6 m
Width Overall width, matters for rail/road transport of vehicles.	0.34 m
Combat weight Fully loaded weight. Lighter eases transport and bridging limits; heavier often means more armor.	320 kg

Munition

Round type, penetration, velocity and projectile data.

Munition specifications
Round type APFSDS (kinetic sabot), HEAT / multipurpose, HE-FRAG, canister or gun-launched ATGM.	Nuclear gravity bomb

Program

Cost, production scale and operators.

Program specifications
Units built Total production run. Higher means proven manufacturing, mature logistics and spares availability.	3,155

Specifications compiled from public Sandia National Laboratories and reference sources ↗. Published defense figures are approximations, treat comparisons as directional. Last verified 2026-07-05.

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