U.S. Developing A New Nuclear Gravity Bomb

The Pentagon has announced plans for a new nuclear bomb 24 times as powerful as the one dropped on Hiroshima in 1945. It comes days after it emerged China plans to double its arsenal of nuclear warheads to over 1,000 by 2030  

Daily Mail: Maps show devastating impact of America's new super-nuke on Russian capital: B61-13 'gravity bomb' has 24 times more power than the one dropped on Hiroshima 

* The Biden administration is developing a new nuclear bomb - the B61-13 has the potential to cause significant devastation in Moscow 

* Simulation of bomb's estimated maximum yield of 360 kilotons of TNT could see many deaths with more than 300,000 killed and hundreds of thousands injured 

* Development of the weapon is primarily intended as a deterrent and to provide assurance to allies 

Maps have been released depicting the destruction that could be unleashed should a new type of nuclear bomb being developed by the Biden Administration be dropped on Moscow. 

The Pentagon announced this week that it is developing a new nuclear 'gravity bomb' that is 24 times more powerful than the nuke detonated in Hiroshima. 

The B61-13 is the 13th variant of the B61 family of 'gravity bombs,' which fall to their target rather than being guided. 

Read more .... 

U.S. Is Developing A New Nuclear Gravity Bomb  

Nuclear Bomb Map Shows Impact of New US Weapon on World's Major Cities -- Newsweek 

New US bomb can kill 300,000 in Moscow – Newsweek -- RT  

Plans For More Destructive B61 Nuclear Bomb Unveiled -- Warzone  

US to build new nuclear gravity bomb -- Defense News  

The US is updating its nuclear arsenal amid growing security fears -- Business Insider  

The U.S. Is Building a New Nuke, Its Third Since the Cold War -- UPI  

The US is building a new nuclear gravity bomb - with 24-times more power -- The Independent

The U.S. Is Building a New Nuke, Its Third Since the Cold War -- Popular Mechanics  

Biden Administration Decides To Build A New Nuclear Bomb to Get Rid Of An Old Bomb -- FAS

Biden Administration Considering The Cancelation Of Former President Trump's New Nuclear Weapons Programs

A crew readies a Common Strategic Rotary Launcher full of AGM-86B air-launched cruise missiles for loading onto a B-52H at Barksdale Air Force Base, La. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Lillian Miller.  

Politics: Biden team weighs killing Trump’s new nuclear weapons  

Officials are considering canceling weapons that were backed by the last administration. 

The Biden administration is considering killing off several nuclear weapons programs that were greenlit by the Trump White House as an internal debate over the nation’s atomic arsenal enters its final phase. 

According to nine current and former officials with knowledge of the deliberations, the Nuclear Posture Review, which is expected to be completed as early as next month, is not expected to make major changes to nuclear policy. Nor is it likely to recommend deep cuts to multibillion-dollar plans to build new intercontinental ballistic missiles, nuclear-armed submarines and stealth bombers, they said. 

But national security officials are debating whether to jettison a new nuclear-armed cruise missile now in the research phase, retire a Cold War-era thermonuclear bomb, and possibly even remove a new “low-yield” warhead that the previous administration deployed on submarines, the current and former officials said. Most spoke on condition they not be identified in order to discuss internal deliberations and private conversations.  

Read more ....  

Update: Biden Mulls Dismantling Some Of Trump's Nuclear Weapons Programs - Reports (Sputnik)  

WNU Editor: According to the above report the Biden administration is "considering it". These programs are still far from being cancelled.

US Debates Promising A "No First Use" Of Nuclear Weapons

“A legally-binding no-first-use commitment—through congressional legislation or a multilateral treaty—would make a nuclear first-strike order illegal, drawing a clear line for US military officers.” @jmsleight in @BulletinAtomic https://t.co/8FweByyONe

— Global Zero (@globalzero) October 6, 2021

Defense News: Debate on ‘no first use’ of nukes mushrooms in Washington 

WASHINGTON ― Five years after President Barack Obama turned back from declaring a “no first use” as U.S. policy for nuclear weapons, opponents say the Biden administration is considering it too, and warn that it risks alienating allies. 

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s ranking member, Sen. Jim Risch, R-Idaho, said that he believes America’s allies are “very, very upset” with the idea President Joe Biden might reverse decades of U.S. nuclear policy as part of his administration’s sweeping Nuclear Posture Review, expected in 2022. 

The U.S. has historically maintained ambiguity about whether it would carry out a first strike with a nuclear weapon, but the policy would expressly rule it out.  

Read more ....  

Update: US Debates Promising No First Use of Nukes (Antiwar.com)  

WNU Editor: This is not the first time the US is debating a "no first use". 

My prediction. 

This change in US nuclear policy is not going to happen.

President Biden Administration Reveals The US Has More Than 3,750 Nuclear Warheads

A chart published by the National Nuclear Security Administration shows how the number of warheads has declined since the Cold War, but is holding steady at a little under 4,000  

Daily Mail: Biden administration reveals the US has more than 3,000 nuclear warheads in first reveal in four years after Trump blocked data - with ongoing talks with Russia and soaring tensions with China over Taiwan 

* Biden administration said on Tuesday it had 3,750 nuclear warheads 

* The announcement reverses a Trump-era policy of keeping the number secret 

* Officials said transparency was essential for global disarmament efforts 

* And comes as U.S. officials work with Russia on a new arms control treaty 

* The Federation of American Scientists welcomed the move 

 * The nuclear arsenal declined slightly in the past two years, according to the data 

The Biden administration on Tuesday revealed it has more than 3,000 nuclear warheads as it released numbers for the first time since former President Trump stopped publishing numbers. 

Releasing the information was essential for disarmament efforts, said officials, as the State Department revealed that the arsenal held 3,750 warheads. 

It comes as the Biden administration pursues an arms control deal with Russia but as tensions soar in the South China Sea as Beijing adopts an increasingly aggressive posture against Taiwan.  

Read more .... 

More News On The President Biden Administration Revealing The US Has More Than 3,750 Nuclear Warheads  

Biden administration reveals number of nuclear weapons in US stockpile -- CNN  

US discloses size of nuclear stockpile for first time since 2018 -- The Hill S

State Department discloses number of nukes in US stockpile -- L.A. Times 

U.S. cutting nuclear warhead stockpile despite major China, Russia buildups -- Washington Times

U.S. Nuclear Weapons That Were Intended To Last A Decade Have Been Operational For 50 Years. With Few Spare Parts, How Long Can They Last?

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army Gen. Mark Milley departs Missile Alert Facility Oscar near Minot Air Force base, N.D., on Thursday. Milley visited the base to get a close-up look at the base’s aging strategic bombers and missiles before he appears before Congress next month to push for funding to modernize the weapons. TARA COPP/MCCLATCHY 

McClatchy News: U.S. nuclear weapons are aging quickly. With few spare parts, how long can they last? 

When hundreds of land-based nuclear armed ballistic missiles were first lowered into underground cement silos spread across the vast cornfields here in 1970, the weapons were only intended to last a decade before a newer system came in. 

Fifty years later, these missiles — called the Minuteman III — are still on alert, manned by members of the U.S. Air Force in teams of two who spend 24 hours straight below ground in front of analog terminals from the 1980s, decoding messages and running tests on the missiles’ systems to check if they could still launch if needed. 

But it’s not the age of weapons or the decades-old technology that troubles their operators. It’s that the original manufacturers who supplied the gears, tubes and other materials to fix those systems are long gone. 

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WNU Editor: It is not only the nuclear weapons that are obsolete. It is the entire infrastructure that supports these weapons that is obsolete. If there is one weapon system that you better make sure has the best equipment and personnel, it is your nuclear forces. 

Trump Administration Quietly Removed 50 B61 Nuclear Gravity Bombs From Their Europe- And Turkey-Based Warehouses Leaving Only Around 100 Warheads

© CC BY-SA 2.0 / Dave Bezaire / B61 Nuclear bomb 

Sputnik: US Has Quietly Removed Third of Its Nukes From Europe, Report Says 

The United States deployed nuclear weapons in Western Europe in the 1950s, growing the arsenal to about 8,000 warheads at the height of the Cold War. The number of nukes stationed on the continent was cut down dramatically in the 1990s but the weapons were never eliminated completely, to the chagrin of Moscow and some of Washington’s own allies. 

The Trump administration appears to have quietly removed approximately 50 of America’s B61 nuclear gravity bombs from their Europe- and Turkey-based warehouses, leaving about 100 warheads stationed across the two regions, a report by the Congressional Research Service indicates. 

Read more .... 

WNU Editor: What caught my eye is the above report is this .... the number of bombs at Turkey’s Incirlik base dropped from 50 to about 20!!!

The two reports that outline these cuts are here .... Nonstrategic Nuclear Weapons (Congressional Research Center Updated March 16, 2021), and here .... United States nuclear weapons, 2021 (Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists).

Poll: Majority Of U.S. Voters Don't Want Billions Spent On New ICBMs

A Minuteman III missile receiving upgrade. U.S. AIR FORCE 

Warzone/The Drive: Majority Of Voters Don't Want Billions Spent On New ICBMs To Overhaul America's "Nuclear Sponge" 

With the new administration tasked with deciding America's future nuclear posture, a poll reveals dissatisfaction with the Air Force’s ICBM plans. 

The U.S. Air Force continues to move ahead with plans to replace its LGM-30G Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles with the future Ground Based Strategic Deterrent, or GBSD, at a total cost of around $264 billion. 

But, in the opinion of U.S. voters who responded to a recent poll, it’s not necessarily the right move and most of them think that alternative options should be pursued. 

Read more .... 

WNU Editor: The poll was done with an over-sampling of respondents in the states that house America's ICBM arsenal. The poll is here .... ICBM Information Project (FAS).

New Low-Yield Nuclear Warheads Have All Been Delivered To The U.S. Navy

Personnel at the Pantex plant in Texas load a Mk 4A reentry vehicle containing a W76-1 warhead into a container for transport. The W76-2 warhead fits inside the same reentry vehicle. YouTube capture

Warzone/The Drive: New Low-Yield Nuclear Warheads That Biden Calls A "Bad Idea" Have All Been Delivered 

Biden has opposed the Trump Administration's deployment of low-yield nuclear warheads on the Navy's Trident submarine-launched ballistic missiles. 

Anew report says that the Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration has finished the planned production run of controversial low-yield W76-2 nuclear warheads for the U.S. Navy's Trident D5 submarine-launched ballistic missiles and delivered all of them to that service. This revelation comes just weeks before President-elect Joe Biden is set to take office. Biden has said that fielding this weapon, which some experts say worryingly increases the chances of the U.S. government using nuclear weapons in a crisis, is a "bad idea." 

Read more .... 

WNU Editor: I would not be surprised if the incoming Biden administration pulls back from this deployment of low-yield nuclear weapons .... Biden to Review U.S. Nuclear-Weapons Programs, With Eye Toward Cuts (WSJ).

U.S. Declassifies Video Showing An F-35 Dropping A Dummy Thermonuclear Bomb

 

Janes: F-35 begins nuclear drop trials 

Nuclear drop trials of the Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) have begun, with the first tests announced on 23 November. 

A US Air Force (USAF) F-35A testbed dropped an inert B61 Mod 12 (B61-12) freefall nuclear bomb from one of its internal weapons bays over Tonopah Test Range in Nevada earlier this year, Sandia National Laboratories which oversaw the trial said. 

“The flight test of the B61-12 with the F-35A Lightning II this summer was the first ever at Sandia’s Tonopah Test Range featuring the fighter jet. 

It was also the first of a testing series that will conclude with full-weapon systems demonstrations designed to increase confidence [that] the bomb will always work when needed and never under any other circumstances,” Sandia said. 

Read more .... 

 More News On The U.S. Declassifying A Video Showing An F-35 Dropping A Dummy Thermonuclear Bomb Over Tonopah Test Range In Nevada 

Watch An F-35 Drop A B61 Nuclear Bomb In This First-Ever Declassified Video -- Warzone/The Drive 

Declassified: Watch an F-35 Drop a Dummy Thermonuclear Bomb -- Popular Mechanics 

Inert version of nuclear bomb dropped from F-35 stealth fighter for first time -- Israel Defense 

Video: US Tests F-35’s Ability to Carry Out Supersonic Nuclear Strikes Over Nevada Desert -- Sputnik

Trump Administration Wants To Know How Fast Its Nuclear Weapons In Storage Could Be Pulled Out If The START Treaty Is Over

Marshall Billingslea, special U.S. presidential envoy for arms control, and Senior Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Takeo Mori pose for a photo ahead of their bilateral meeting at the Foreign Ministry in Tokyo on Tuesday. | POOL / VIA AFP-JIJI

Japan Times: White House wants to know how fast nukes could be pulled out of storage, report says

As talks over extending the last remaining strategic arms control agreement between the U.S. and Russia remain deadlocked, the Trump administration has reportedly asked the military to assess how quickly it could pull nukes out of storage and load them onto bombers and submarines if the treaty expires in February.

The request was part of a strategy to heap pressure on Russia in renegotiating the New START agreement ahead of the Nov. 3 U.S. presidential election, Politico reported Monday, citing three people familiar with discussions on the issue.

The Trump White House, which sees Moscow as dragging out the talks, reportedly hopes to underscore that it is serious about letting the treaty expire if Russia fails to meet U.S. demands.

“It’s a clear signal that the costs for not negotiating before the election are going to go up,” the report quoted one of the sources as saying. The U.S. is “trying to create an incentive, and it’s a real incentive, for the Russians to sit down and actually negotiate.”

The request for the assessment came in the last two weeks from a group of officials at the National Security Council and State, Defense and Energy departments that is supporting Ambassador Marshall Billingslea in negotiations with Moscow to try to replace New START before it expires, according to the report.

Read more ....

Update: Trump administration orders assessment on bolstering nuclear warheads as talks with Russia stall (Politico)

WNU Editor: In an emergency I am sure these weapons could be pulled out, prepared, and deployed very quickly.

New U.S. CBO Report Says Ending The START Agreement With Russia Will Cost Billions

The New START nuclear pact’s demise could cost the Department of Defense as much as $439 billion for modernization, plus $28 billion in annual maintenance costs, the Congressional Budget Office said in a report published Tuesday. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Abbigayle Williams)

Defense News: US nuclear weapons budget could skyrocket if Russia treaty ends

WASHINGTON ― The New START nuclear pact’s demise could cost the Department of Defense as much as $439 billion for modernization, plus $28 billion in annual maintenance costs, the Congressional Budget Office said in a report published Tuesday.

That price estimate, as the United States and Russia remain at odds over the treaty, reflects a threefold increase in weapons production costs. With Washington and Moscow’s responses to the expiration of New START unclear, CBO explored several possible paths, including other less expensive options.

“If the New START treaty expired, the United States could choose to make no changes to its current plans for nuclear forces, in which case it would incur no additional costs,” the CBO study found. “If the United States chose to increase its forces in response to the expiration of the treaty, modest expansions could be relatively inexpensive and could be done quickly. Larger expansions could be quite costly, however, and could take several decades to accomplish.”

Read more ....

Update #1: CBO: Letting nuclear treaty expire could cost billions (The Hill)

WNU Editor: Ending START will probably result in a new nuclear arms race. And if there is one thing that we learned in the last Cold War is that a nuclear arms race is incredibly expensive. Last year alone the U.S. spent over $35 billion on its nuclear arms stockpile .... The US accounted for nearly half of the $72.9 billion spent on nuclear weapons last year (CNN).

Update #2: The CBO report is here .... The Potential Costs of Expanding U.S. Strategic Nuclear Forces If the New START Treaty Expires (Congressional Budget Office).

U.S. Air Force’s Top General Says We Don’t Have Enough Cash To Build New Nuclear Weapons

A rendering of a B-21 bomber at Dyess Air Force Base in Texas. USAF

Defense One: We Don’t Have Enough Cash to Build New Nuclear Weapons, Says Air Force Chief

Nukes or conventional weapons, “the current budget does not allow you to do both,” says Gen. Dave Goldfein, suggesting Congress create a separate account.

The Pentagon’s budget is not large enough to buy new nuclear weapons and conventional forces simultaneously, the U.S. Air Force’s top general said Wednesday.

Chief of Staff Gen. Dave Goldfein gave a blunt assessment of the Pentagon’s growing list of bills amid a growing US deficit, on Wednesday, suggesting nuclear expenses have grown so great they may require a separate account of their own.

“I think a debate is that this will be the first time that the nation has tried to simultaneously modernize the nuclear enterprise while it’s trying to modernize an aging conventional enterprise,” Goldfein said during a Brookings Institution appearance. “The current budget does not allow you to do both.”

Read more ....

WNU Editor: To update the US nuclear arsenal with new ICBMs, bombers, submarines and missiles will cost nearly $1.7 trillion over the next 30 years.

First Photos Of The F-35A Jets Dropping Inert B61-12 Nuclear Bombs During DCA Tests

F-35A AF-6 releases inert B61-12 during a dual capable aircraft (DCA) test flight in the skies above Edwards Air Force Base, California, on Nov. 25, 2011. (All images: DoD)

The Aviationist: Here Are The First Photos Of The F-35A Jets Dropping Inert B61-12 Nuclear Bombs During DCA Tests

The F-35 Joint Program Office has released a bunch of images showing DCA (Dual Capable Aircraft) tests involving the release of inert nuclear bombs.

It is not a secret that the F-35A, the CTOL (Convetional Take Off and Landing) variant of the Lightning II aircraft, will be dual capable aircraft (DCA), meaning that it will have the ability to deliver nuclear ordnance as well as conventional weapons. Such dual capability is expected to be included in the Block 4 software release, with initial capability for the B61-12 weapon. Although the F-35A DCA is scheduled to achieve nuclear certification in January, 2023, testing at the 461st FLTS, the test squadron that oversees developmental testing of all variants of the fifth-generation F-35 Lightning II at Edwards Air Force Base, California, has started in 2019.

Images just released by the F-35 Joint Program Office (the Department of Defense’s agency responsible for developing and acquiring the F-35A/B/C) show various drop tests of inert nuclear bombs between 2019 and 2020.

Read more ....

Update: Pentagon Release First Images Of Stealth Jets Dropping Inert Nuclear Bombs (Zero Hedge)

WNU Editor: It looks like the Pentagon is preparing stealth fighter jets for the next military conflict with nuclear bombs.

U.S. Air Force Prepares To Receive New Nuclear Weapons

Reuters

David Axe, National Interest: The Air Force Is Getting Ready To Receive New Nuclear Weapons

The command’s forces are capable of extinguishing essentially all life on Earth within a matter of hours.

Here's What You Need To Remember: Now the command is in the beginning of a modernization effort costing tens of billions of dollars. New B-21 stealth bombers are slated to supplant the B-1s and B-2s starting in the mid-2020s. The Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent rocket, a replacement for the 1960s-vintage Minuteman, is in development.

The U.S. Air Force’s nuclear command says it’s about to undergo a major reorganization as it prepares to field new bombs, missiles, bombers and rockets.

Air Force Global Strike Command stood up in 2009 as the successor to Strategic Air Command, which maintained around-the-clock nuclear alerts during the Cold War.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: These weapons are not cheap to maintain .... A Look At The Cost And Composition Of America's Nuclear Arsenal (January 30, 2020)

Covid-19 Will Be Impacting US Nuclear Weapons Procurement And Planning

B-52Hs at Barksdale take part in a minimum interval take-off training exercise in 2013. USAF

Steven Pifer, Brookings: How COVID-19 might affect US nuclear weapons and planning

The Department of Defense has begun to ratchet up spending to recapitalize the U.S. strategic nuclear triad and its supporting infrastructure, as several programs move from research and development into the procurement phase. The projected Pentagon expenditures are at least $167 billion from 2021-2025. This amount does not include the large nuclear warhead sustainment and modernization costs funded by the Department of Energy, projected to cost $81 billion over the next five years.

Nuclear forces require modernization, but that will entail opportunity costs. In a budget environment that offers little prospect of greater defense spending, especially in the COVID19 era, more money for nuclear forces will mean less funding for conventional capabilities.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: Too early to know the impact that the Covid-19 pandemic will have on U.S. nuclear weapons and planning.

A Look At The Cost And Composition Of America's Nuclear Arsenal

Visual Capitalist: The Cost and Composition of America’s Nuclear Weapons Arsenal

The American nuclear weapons arsenal is nowhere near its 1960s peak, but there are still thousands of warheads in the stockpile today.

The U.S. nuclear program is comprised of a complex network of facilities and weaponry, and of course the actual warheads themselves. Let’s look at the location of warheads, how they’re deployed, and the costs associated with running and refurbishing an aging nuclear program.

Let’s launch into the data.

Read more ....

Update: Trump to ask $20 billion to maintain and upgrade nuclear weapons (Digital Journal)

WNU Editor: The Russians are also upgrading their nuclear arsenal .... Russia Is Updating Their Nuclear Weapons: What Does that Mean for the Rest of Us? (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace).

U.S. Has Deployed New, Small Nukes On An Ohio Class Ballistic Missile Submarine

Workers at the Pantex Plant in Texas handle a W76 nuclear warhead as part of a program to extend its life. Image credit: Pantex Plant via YouTube.

Warzone/The Drive: Navy Missile Sub Has Begun Its First Patrol Armed With Controversial Low Yield Nukes

* Proponents argue that the warheads give the United States added deterrent flexibility, but critics warn they lower the threshold for using nukes.

The U.S. Navy has reportedly sent an Ohio class ballistic missile submarine on patrol for the first time carrying Trident II submarine-launched ballistic missiles armed with the new and controversial low-yield W76-2 nuclear warhead. This news comes nearly a year after the United States announced it had produced the first of these warheads. Proponents say the warheads are necessary to give the U.S. government added flexibility to respond to certain crises, including limited nuclear strikes, but critics contend that they raise the likelihood of the United States employing nuclear weapons, to begin with.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: I have always been very leery about low-yield nuclear weapons. The temptation to use them will be there. As for this warhead, it packs a punch of around seven kilotons. This is why the Pentagon wants this warhead in its arsenal .... Why the Pentagon Says It Needs Low-Yield Nukes (Popular Mechanics).

 More News On The U.S. Has Deploying Small Nuclear Weapons On An Ohio Class Ballistic Missile Submarine

US Deploys New Low-Yield Nuclear Submarine Warhead -- Federation Of Atomic Scientists
Deployment of new US nuclear warhead on submarine a dangerous step, critics say -- The Guardian
U.S. Has Deployed New, Small Nukes On Submarine, According To Group -- NPR
The low-yield nuclear warhead: A dangerous weapon based on bad strategic thinking -- Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

U.S. Preparing To Test An Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile

An unarmed Minuteman III ICBM test launch takes place Oct. 2, 2019, at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. (Staff Sgt. J.T. Armstrong/U.S. Air Force via AP)

Defense News: Is the US about to test a new ballistic missile?

WASHINGTON — The U.S. may be set to test a new ground-launched ballistic missile in the coming weeks, the first test of that particular weapon since the country withdrew from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty earlier this year.

In March, Pentagon officials told reporters that they intend to test an intermediate range ballistic missile in the November time frame. At the annual Defense News Conference in September, Robert Soofer, deputy assistant secretary of defense for policy for nuclear and missile defense, confirmed that the Pentagon is roughly on track for that test.

“I do believe it is still the plan to conduct a ballistic missile test before the end of the year," he said then.

Asked about Soofer’s comments and whether those tests are still planned, Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Robert Carver could not “confirm or deny a test will take place in November. I am unable to provide any details on testing dates, times or locations.”

Read more ....

WNU editor: After the U.S. withdrew from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty earlier this year, the expectation was for a test to occur within a year or two of a new intermediate range missile. It looks like the test is going to happen sooner rather than later. But while there is progress for a new intermediate missile, apparently there are a lot of problems in developing a new long range ballistic missile .... $85B Nuclear Missile Competition Gets Messier as Feds Investigate Northrop (Defense One).

President Trump Has Confidence That U.S. Nuclear Weapons At Incirlik Are Safe

President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with Italian President Sergio Mattarella in the Oval Office of the White House, Oct. 16, 2019, in Washington.

Air Force Times: Trump expresses confidence when asked if nuclear weapons at Incirlik are safe

In response to a reporter’s question, President Trump on Wednesday said he was “confident” about the safety of U.S. nuclear weapons at Incirlik Air Base in Turkey.

During a meeting with Italian President Sergio Mattarella in the Oval Office, a reporter asked Trump how confident he is — amid increasing tensions with Turkey over its invasion of Syria, targeting of Kurdish forces and possible U.S. economic sanctions — about the safety of nuclear weapons reportedly housed at Incirlik.

“One of the things that has been exposed by this Turkey situation is that as many as 50 nuclear weapons are at Incirlik Air Base in Turkey. How confident are you of those weapons’ safety?” the reporter asked, according to a transcript of the exchange provided by the White House.

“We’re confident, and we have a great air base there, a very powerful air base,” Trump said in response. “That air base alone can take any place. It’s a large, powerful air base.”

Read more ....

WNU Editor: I do not share President Trump's confidence.

Time For The U.S. To Remove The 50-Plus Nuclear Weapons It Keeps In Turkey

Global Research

Quartz: The US is rethinking the 50-plus nuclear weapons it keeps in Turkey

Turkish forces are pushing into northern Syria, replacing and sometimes even firing on the US troops retreating at Donald Trump’s orders.

The question of whether Turkey, a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, is really a US ally was put to US defense secretary Mark Esper on Fox television this morning. “No, I think Turkey, the arc of their behavior over the past several years has been terrible,” he said.

Which brings up a problem: The US is storing perhaps 50 air-dropped thermonuclear bombs at its Incirlik Airbase in southern Turkey, less than 100 miles from the Syrian border where this conflict is taking place.

The nuclear stockpile dates back to the Cold War, when the US sought to keep a sufficient supply of atomic weapons deployed in Europe to deter potential Soviet aggression. Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, and Italy also host similar arsenals, and the US trains the participating nations in the use of the doomsday devices.

Today, these bombs remain in place largely because of inertia, and the hope that countries like Turkey will see the depot as sufficient reason not to develop nuclear weapons of their own. It doesn’t seem to be working: Last month, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he could “not accept” efforts to prevent Turkey from developing its own atomic bombs.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: I see zero value in having U.S. nuclear weapons in Turkey. So why are they still there, and who is making the case to keep them there?