Seven years ago, in June 2014, the Obama administration announced it would retire the B-83 and replace it with the proposed B61-12 nuclear gravity bomb, the first of which was to be produced in 2020. In August 2016, then-Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz told Congress “Once completed, the B61-12 LEP (Life Extension Program) will allow for the retirement of the B83-1—the last megaton-class weapon in America’s nuclear arsenal—while supporting the nation’s continued commitment to our national security and that of our allies and partners.”
