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US ships 100 upgraded B61-12 nuclear bombs to Europe

Military Monitoring
Thu, 27 Oct 2022 00:00 UTC

The United States has accelerated the program for new B61-12 nuclear bombs for Europe. The upgraded and more accurate version of its nuclear air-dropped gravity bomb is expected to arrive in NATO bases in Europe in December, according to a U.S. diplomatic cable, the Belgian media Politico reported on Thursday.

The move, which involves replacing older weapons with the newer version at various storage facilities in Europe for potential use by U.S. and allied bombers and fighter jets, comes amid heightened tensions over Russia's threats to use a nuclear weapon in Ukraine.

The original timeline for replacement was set for the spring of 2023. However, according to defense expert the US wants to show Russia it is ready to act accordingly should the need be and the war in Ukraine escalates and transcends its borders.

The new B61-12 nuclear bombs will be shipped to Germany, Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey. The $10 billion B61-12 Life Extension Program is managed by the US Department of Energy and is meant to replace several earlier versions, with 100 upgraded nuclear bombs.

The upgrades involve removing a parachute and installing a new tail kit and other improvements for significantly greater accuracy. According to Politico, the new version is also designed so that U.S. and allied bomber planes and fighter aircraft — including B-2 and B-21 bombers and F-15, F-16, F-35 and Tornado fighter jets — are all able to carry the weapon, as opposed to the several older versions of the B61 that have been in storage for years.

The B61 nuclear gravity bomb, deployed from U.S. Air Force and NATO bases, has almost 50 years of service, making it the oldest and most versatile weapon in the U.S. stockpile. Numerous modifications have been made to improve the B61's safety, security, and reliability since the first B61 entered service in 1968, and four B61 variants remain in the stockpile: the 3, 4, 7, and 11. The B61-12 LEP will refurbish, reuse, or replace all of the bomb's nuclear and non‐nuclear components to extend the service life of the B61 by at least 20 years, according to the US Department of Energy.

Reader Comments

DeliciousTears · 2022-10-29T23:07:54Z

Warhead with "4 selectable power options"?! wtf is this?

Suspect · 2022-10-30T04:42:12Z

DeliciousTears I understood that to mean that there were four different warheads of varying power that the bomb could be armed with but the way it's stated as, "selectable" is a bit confusing.

azigzagidiot · 2022-10-31T06:29:53Z

DeliciousTears Suspect Yeah... blast radius? Quick search:

The B61-12 has a nuclear warhead with four selectable power options at launch depending on the target to hit. It has the ability to penetrate underground, exploding deep to destroy command center bunkers and other underground structures. The Pentagon’s program foresees the construction of about five hundred B61-12 with an estimated cost of roughly 10 billion dollars (so each bomb will cost double what it would cost if it were built entirely of gold).

[Link] nukewatch.org

also they've repurposed the parachute to outfit a paratrooper division of little green army men and included a battlement playscape.

azigzagidiot · 2022-10-31T06:42:35Z

DeliciousTears Suspect 1. "The B61-4 warhead used in the B61-12 has four selectable yields of 0.3, 5, 10, and 50 kilotons." [Link] fas.org.

think it'd need to be fitted with the selected warhead before loading but dunno

azigzagidiot · 2022-10-31T06:53:04Z

azigzagidiot

Design Features

Two stage radiation implosion weapon.

Light weight, intermediate yield bomb with variable yield options ("dial-a-yield" or DAY), and flexible fuzing and delivery options. Designed for high-speed external carriage and low altitude delivery. Modular weapon system design.

Contains two neutron generators (supplied by General Electric).

Spin stabilized by rocket. 24 ft. Nylon/Kevlar-29 ribbon parachute ejected by gas generator. Allows rapid deceleration from supersonic velocity (only 2 seconds required to decelerate to 35 mph). Tested at up to Mach 1.2.

The lowest yield option for the B61 (the same for all tactical mods) is 300 tons which probably represents the basic unboosted yield of the fission primary.

The B61 has four major sections:

-Nose Subassembly: contains a dual-channel radar airburst fuze and two piezoelectric crystal impact fuzes, and shock mitigating material for laydown delivery.

-Center Warhead Subassembly: "hard case" containing the actual thermonuclear warhead, sealed and desiccated with polyurethane spacers to support warhead and provide shock isolation. Also contains thermal batteries, safeties, and firing circuits.

-Rear Subassembly: Preflight arming controls, fuzing option switches, safe separation setting dials, and spin rockets for free fall weapon stabilization.

-Tail Subassembly: consists of bomb fins, afterbody structure, parachute with associated deployment and release mechanisms. Complete parachute assembly weighs 115 lb.

Current models are made up of 6000 parts in 1800 subassemblies, manufactured by 570 suppliers and 9 principal contractors.

Features of individual models currently in stockpile:

-Mod 3: Tactical bomb with 4 yield options - 0.3 Kt, 1.5 Kt, 60 Kt, and 170 Kt. This is the highest yield tactical bomb mod. Along with the mod 4, this was the first mod developed using PBX-9502 IHE, and the first to be equipped with a microprocessor based arming and firing system (in 1980).

-Mod 4: Tactical bomb with 4 yield options - 0.3 Kt, 1.5 Kt, 10 Kt, and 45 Kt.

-Mod 7: Strategic bomb with multiple yield options - lowest is 10 Kt, highest is 300 Kt. This is a converted Mod 1 bomb. The conversion replaced the earlier PBX-9404 HE with PBX-9502 IHE. It has the highest yield of any B61 family weapon (including other warhead derivatives, like the W-80).

-Mod 10: Tactical bomb with 4 yield options - 0.3 Kt, 5 Kt, 10 Kt, and 80 Kt. Converted W-85 Pershing II missile warhead.

-Mod 11: Tactical or strategic bomb with multiple yield options presumably ranging from 10 Kt (and possibly lower yields) to 340 Kt. This is a modified Mod 7 with a one-piece case hardened steel center case, and a new nose piece and rear subassembly to provide ground penetration capability for defeating buried targets ("bunker busting") . The parachute assembly has also been removed, and new aerodynamic fins added for high-velocity, accurate delivery. The B61-11 buries itself 3-6 meters underground before detonation, transfering a much higher proportion of the explosion energy to ground shock, compared to surface bursts. The actual warhead itself is identical to the Mod 7. This is the first new model of a U.S. warhead to go into service since warhead production was suspended in 1989. It is being produced by field modification of existing Mod 7s.

also includes reverse engineering instructions.

Suspect · 2022-10-31T14:45:03Z

azigzagidiot Apparently the yield can be adjusted even remotely while in flight.

[Link]

DeliciousTears · 2022-10-31T15:00:22Z

Suspect Awesome link.. thanks! I've got a bunch of dead tritium weapon night-sights around the house.. Stuff definitely does degrade terribly fast.

Suspect · 2022-10-31T15:05:28Z

DeliciousTears Yes they do. As expensive as tritium sights are, one might expect that they last longer.

ReRan · 2022-10-29T23:18:46Z

Why improve the safety of a nuclear bomb? Isn't the whole idea to destroy lives? Yours, mine, ours and everyone else's?

DeliciousTears · 2022-10-30T00:37:37Z

ReRan There's yuge $$$ in keeping the warheads potentially functional. The nature of the radioactive material degrades metals and other components rapidly over time. The HE primary triggers too have limited life expectancies from just basic chemical breakdown.

PedroCarpintero · 2022-10-30T12:32:59Z

ReRan We can all sleep better now knowing that these nuclear devices have added security and safety features!

PedroCarpintero · 2022-10-30T12:56:53Z

ReRan It's mind-boggling how sophisticated HYPOCRISY is becoming... "safety features" on a nuclear bomb! Did anyone from the blue-colored spanner-wielders to the high-brow big-wigs actually have the consciousness 'awoke' enough to suppress duper's delight whilst redesigning this 'safe bomb'?

Evster · 2022-10-30T07:19:07Z

“Russia's threats to use a nuclear weapon in Ukraine” of which there have been a grand total of ZERO, which immediately translates the contents of this entire article in my mind to “blah blah blah, bullshit, blah blah blickety bullshit.” Excuse me if I’m not willing to sift through shit in search of the odd accidental fact.

DeliciousTears · 2022-10-30T12:07:36Z

Evster But but but...... Russia bad! Putin bad! Orange man bad too.

Evster ·

DeliciousTears

· 2022-10-30T16:24:10Z

azigzagidiot · 2022-10-31T06:24:57Z

This must be the part of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty where we distribute nukes to overseas bases. I'm sure its covered under deterrence "rules-based order" sort of thing.

[Link]

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Oldfart

I reported it yesterday morning. I had seen the report in the French news the day before already. [Link]

LindaMay

I wonder if the people who do have conversations with themselves have trouble quieting the mind, as for meditation.

ReRan

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US ships 100 upgraded B61-12 nuclear bombs to Europe

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