The United States has accelerated the deployment of its nuclear bombs at NATO bases in Europe. US officials told NATO allies during a closed-door meeting in Brussels six months ago that work on the advanced B61-12 air-dropped gravity bomb was over. It will be deployed soon.
According to the report, America is continuously giving new versions to its old bombers and fighter jets, and is continuously deploying nuclear bombs in many parts of Europe. Russia had threatened to use nuclear bombs in the Ukraine war. Since then, America has also started giving new versions to old nuclear bombs.
Upgrading the B-61 program to 2022 has been openly discussed by the US in budget documents and public statements over the years, according to the report. Pentagon officials have said that the stockpile is needed to modernize and upgrade to ensure security.
According to the news published in Politico, Pentagon spokesman Brigadier General Patrick Ryder responded via email " We will not discuss the details of our nuclear arsenal. The modernization of the US B-61 nuclear weapons has been underway for years.
Planning to safely and responsibly swap out older weapons for the upgraded B-61-12 versions has been ongoing for a long time. It is not connected in any way with the current events in Ukraine’.
According to the report, by the end of 2022, America has deployed 100 B61 nuclear weapons in Europe. These bombs are deployed by dual-capable aircraft. This B61-12 version includes a new tail kit to improve both efficiency and accuracy. It will be used for both strategic and tactical use.
Does America hide its information
In 2019, a NATO organization released a document and later removed it. This turned a long-standing suspicion into a belief. US is deploying nuclear weapons at air bases in many European countries. A copy of this document was published by the Belgian newspaper De Morgen which stated that B61 nuclear bombs were kept at six sites in Europe.
According to a factsheet from the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, the US has deployed nuclear bombs at Klein Brogel in Belgium, Büchel in Germany, Aviano and Ghedi in Italy, Volkel in the Netherlands and Incirlik in Turkey. < /p>
What is the history of atomic bombs in America
The presence of the weapons stems from an agreement during the Cold War in the 1960s. Its purpose was to deter the Soviet Union and to convince the countries involved that they had no need to start nuclear weapons programs of their own.
Historically the United States has deployed both nuclear bombs and nuclear-armed missiles in all European countries, including Greece and the United Kingdom.
The United States and its NATO allies have not disclosed the exact number of bombs deployed in Europe. All these weapons are kept in underground cellars. The Action Link (PAL) code remains in US hands for them to take any action.
In 1971, during the height of the Cold War, the total number of nuclear weapons located in Europe reached an all-time high of 7,300. Although America later talked about reducing nuclear bombs, but in the last 2 years, evidence was leaked that America is deploying nuclear bombs in Europe.
Experts estimate that about 100 such bombs are stored among the five NATO countries, ready to be loaded onto jets. A version of this bomb can carry explosives equivalent to 11 Hiroshimas.
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What is the reason for this?
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has increased the concern of the third world war. The US remains the only nuclear weapons system still deploying B-61 bombs in Europe.
According to the news published in the Washington Post, ‘the deployment of B61 means political importance. Although America is not telling the purpose behind it to attack, but B61 is still a bomb. Even if it is kept locked in the safe, there seems to be a danger. The deployment of nuclear bombs can certainly pose a challenge to defense policy and arms control.
Retired General Philip Breedlove, NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander from 2013 to 2016 and now chairman of the Frontier Europe Initiative for the Middle East Institute, says in the Washington Post, "The senior director of these bombs was former US President George W. Bush. These bombs have military value, with NATO governments viewing them as a major political commitment.
How can B61 be used?
During the escalating conflict between NATO and Russia, the US believes it may receive a nuclear warning from Russia in Poland. America feels that if things continue to move along that path – then the United States should be fully prepared for nuclear war.
According to the Washington Post report, if this happens, America will be forced to break its 77-year principle.
If an 800-kiloton Russian intercontinental ballistic missile were to explode 1.8 miles above the White House, half a million deaths could occur from Silver Spring, MD to Alexandria, Va., according to the modeling website NukeMap, created by nuclear weapons historian Alex Wellerstein. Others can suffer third degree burns.
A Putin spokesman on CNN did not rule out the use of nuclear weapons, saying that ‘if Russia sees a threat to the Kremlin, we will definitely do so. America is also making nuclear bomb like B 61’.
How B 61 started
Chuck Hansen’s "swords of armageddon" According to the B61, it was born in the years following the Cuban Missile Crisis. Because the Air Force considered the possibility of dropping nuclear weapons better from low-flying aircraft at high speed.
The B61 can be used as a ‘tactical’ or ‘non-strategic’ nuclear strike against forward military targets on the battlefield, while it can be used for ‘strategic’ strikes on government or cities behind enemy lines can be done.
According to a public memorandum sent to Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, by 1975 the US had 6,951 tactical nuclear weapons and 145 nuclear storage sites in Europe. The purpose behind this was to respond to the threat of a nuclear attack from any Soviet intrusion in Europe. Now this Could escalate to a fierce strategic war.
