The United States has accelerated the delivery of a more accurate version of its main nuclear bomb to NATO bases in Europe, the journalistic platform Politico reported citing diplomatic sources and two experts on the matter.
The arrival of the upgraded B61-12 gravity bomb, originally planned for next spring, is now slated for December, US officials told NATO allies at a closed-door meeting in Brussels this month, it turns out.
The move, which will replace older weapons with the newer version in various repositories in Europe for possible use by US and allied bombers and fighter jets, comes at a time of heightened tensions over Russia’s threat to use a nuclear weapon in Ukraine and the growing concern that the West needs to do more to stop Moscow from crossing that line.
Little Brogel
The US announcement at the meeting in Brussels came just days before the start of NATO’s annual nuclear exercise known as Steadfast Noon. The exercise will run from October 17 to 30 and will involve around 60 aircraft of 14 nationalities – some of which operate from the Belgian air base Kleine-Brogel in Limburg.
Experts estimate that the US has located 150 to 180 older B-61 bombs at six air bases in five European countries: Germany, Belgium (Kleine-Brogel), Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey. There are probably ten to twenty of these bombs at Kleine-Brogel Air Force Base, which can be deployed by the F-16s of the 10th Tactical Wing and an American detachment, the 701st Munitions Support Squadron (701 MUNSS).
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