A US Department of Defense agency responsible for launching nuclear weapons tweeted — then deleted — an ominous joke about dropping bombs on New Year’s Eve.

The post by the US Strategic Command included a short clip showing a B-2 bomber launching two bombs as the words “stealth,” “ready” and “lethal” flashed on the screen, according to NBC News.

“#TimesSquare tradition rings in the #NewYear by dropping the big ball…if ever needed, we are #ready to drop something much, much bigger,” the Monday tweet said before it was deleted. “Watch to the end!”

In a subsequent post, the agency — which touts the message “peace is our profession” on its Twitter bio — apologized for the social media slip-up.

“Our previous NYE tweet was in poor taste & does not reflect our values. We apologize. We are dedicated to the security of America & allies,” it said.

Critics blasted the tweet as a “sick, bragging joke.”

A spokesman told NBC that the clip that was tweeted was test footage of non-nuclear bombs.

“This post, which has since been deleted, was part of our Year in Review series meant to feature our command priorities: strategic deterrence, decisive response and combat-ready force,” the spokesman said. “It was a repost from earlier in the year, dropping a pair of conventional Massive Ordnance Penetrators (MOP) at a test range in the United States.”

The 30,000-pound MOPs are designed to attack concrete buildings and bunkers, according to Popular Mechanics.

The US Strategic Command, or Stratcom, is one of the 10 unified commands in the Department of Defense. Its mission is to “deter strategic attack and employ forces, as directed, to guarantee the security of our Nation and our Allies,” the agency says on its website.

In May, the US Air Force was also forced to apologize for a flippant tweet in the wake of the viral “yanny versus laurel” debate. The agency suggested that the Taliban would rather hear either word than the sound of “deafening” gunfire, the Guardian reported.