‘Qualification Flight’: Pentagon Test-Drops Upgraded Nuke from B-2 Stealth Bomber over Nevada

Different versions of the B-61 nuclear gravity bomb have been deployed across the US and NATO bases for five decades. While, over the years, the Pentagon produced numerous modifications to the deadly weapon, B61 variants of 3, 4, 7, and 11 remain in service.

The Pentagon is currently in the middle of the $7.6 billion ‘B61-12 Life Extension Program’,which aims to “refurbish, reuse, or replace all of the bomb’s nuclear and non‐nuclear components”and extend the service life of the B61 by at least 20 years. The “first production unit”is scheduled for completion in 2020.

Besides deploying B61-12 on modern and future long range bombers, the Pentagon is making sure the bomb can be easily used by F-15E fighter jets, and wants to integrate it with the F-35 Lightning II fifth generation combat jets, raising concerns it is creeping towards lowering the threshold for tactical use of nuclear weapons.

After former President Barack Obama authorized a nuclear modernization program, Trump revised it into an ambitious 30-year project that would cost at least $1.2 trillionto complete. Some $800 billion will be spent on maintaining nuclear forces, while about $400 billion will be spent on modernizing them, under the pretext of an existential need to deter “revisionist powers”such as China and Russia.

READ MORE: US lowering threshold for using nukes causes deepest concern – Lavrov

Russia has repeatedly expressed concerns over a loosening of nuclear launch guidelines under Trump’s Nuclear Posture Review (NPR), which says that non-nuclear attacks which result in mass casualties or target key infrastructure constitute enough grounds for a US nuclear retaliation. Moscow also warned that deploying more B61 bombs to NATO bases in Europe would also violate the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.

READ MORE: US nukes in Europe & low strike threshold are direct violations of non-proliferation treaty – Moscow

Meanwhile, to justify taxpayer spending on nuclear upgrades, Washington constantly points the finger at Russia, accusing it of threatening its neighbors and US national security.

“Russia has demonstrated its willingness to use force to alter the map of Europe and impose its will on its neighbors, backed by implicit and explicit nuclear first-use threats,” the NPR report claims, despite Russian military doctrine clearly stating that nukes can only be used in response to a nuclear attack, or when the state’s very existence is put under threat by a massive conventional attack.

*SOURCE: RT. Go to ORIGINAL.

**Photo: B-2 bomber (USAF) from below | Onetwo1at English Wikipedia | CC BY-SA 3.0

Read also:

New UN Disarmament Agenda to Help Eliminate Nuclear Arsenals and Other Deadly Weapons

Trump’s Withdrawal from Iran Nuclear Deal Gives Europe a Choice: Become Vassals or Be Independent

UN Chief ‘Deeply Concerned’ by US Decision to Exit Iran Nuclear Deal

‘Subject to the World’s Most Robust Nuclear Verification Regime,’ Iran Has Consistently Stuck to Its Commitments — UN Atomic Agency’s Chief

Collapse of Iran Nuclear Deal Would Be ‘Great Loss’ — UN Atomic Agency Head

Notwithstanding “the Continued Adherence by Iran” to Its Nuclear-Related Commitments, the Agreement Is “at a Crossroads” – UN Top Political Official

‘Iran Is Implementing Nuclear-Related Commitments’ – UN Atomic Agency Chief

Europe Must Honour iIts Commitments: Protect the Nuclear Deal

‘Global Anxieties about Nuclear Weapons Higher than at Any Time Since Cold War’ — UN Disarmament Official

Nuclear Weapons: Playing with Fire

2018 U.S. Nuclear Posture Review Released by Trump Administration

READ MORE HERE

2018 Human Wrongs Watch