In the current state of affairs, it was inevitable that the United States would decide to anticipate at least four months of shipment 150 tactical atomic bombs type B61of restricted power, to NATO’s European partners, the Western military alliance.

The goal is renew existing stocks to the latest version, B61-12 which will be distributed in Germany, Belgium, Holland, Turkey and Italy, which could host between 70 and 100 copies, according to the local press.

The Russians have it 2,000 copies of tactical bombs, considered theater, much less powerful than strategic nuclear weapons.

Experts believe that an apocalyptic war with atomic engines of the highest level, will not fight due to the war in Ukraine. But instead you are much more likely to use the so-called atomic bombs of the theater due to its much more limited effects.

It should be remembered that a simulation in the United States showed that if a type B61 A bomb is calibrated to its maximum potential, equivalent to half the one that exploded in Hiroshima in 1945, exploded in midtown Manhattanin New York, it would kill half a million people.

Pentagon officials say replacement of tactical nuclear devices is needed ensure the modernization and security of the arsenal of aviation atomic weapons, so called because they are allied fighters and bombers that move them to predetermined targets.

It was the threats of the Russian leader Vladimir Putin that moved the atomic crawl space. In reality, the B61 atomic bombs are in service since 1968. The best results, even if it was never necessary to use their lethal services, were given by the models B61-7 and B61-11who are on duty.

The B61-12 version began to be developed about ten years ago and in 2018 the Department for Safety and Nuclear Safety finally approved the project, which was put into service on North American fighter jets.

It is improving dramatically the aiming system assisted by the radar in the Nortrop B-2 bomber, a strategic and versatile aircraft that has the so-called “Low visibility stealth technology”.

new and improved

New and improved, adds the B61-12 pump new levels of accuracy on targets and can carry various types of attack systems, such as surface detonation or bunker destruction options.

Hans Kristnsen, director of the Nuclear Information Project of the Federation of American Scientists, indicated that “the main advantage of the B61-12 is that it combines the capabilities of gravity bombs in a single device. against all scenarios of objectives “.

After being tested three times in 2015, its production began five years later. Earlier this year, the first copies were delivered to the military complex, baptized AUR, a designation given to a fully assembled artifact.

The B61-12 is integrated with the B-2 bomber, an aircraft that can safely use advanced communication devices such as those of this bomb.

This would be useful, they point out to the Pentagon, “in case a multi-faceted or large-scale nuclear strike is needed” on B-2 bombers or older models. like the B-52Sthe Flying Fortress.

The US Air Force wants to integrate the B62-12 with other bombers, fighters and even drones, such as the F-35 Lightning II. Experts prefer it to the F-35 as the ideal aircraft to fire with this ammunition thanks to its perfect aiming systems, confirmed during tests.

The pair F-35 and B61-12 scored a 100% efficiency in the launches in 31 tests carried out.

In Italy, the early arrival of the new units of the B61 nuclear bomb is expected at the Ghedi and Aviano bases, where the North American strategic bombers and F-35 jets are located.

Secret bases?

In NATO circles an absolute hermeticism is maintained that leaves unanswered those who claim that there are other bases, secretwhere they operate Tornado fighter and F-35. This explains the estimates ranging from sixty to one hundred B61-12 in all Italian bases.

As always, the utmost attention regards the activities of the Aviano base, the main one where exclusively North American fighters operate, transporting the B61 for tactical and strategic use.

The pumps can be adjusted in flight by means of ultra-sophisticated systems to make them vary in bursting power.

Tactical atomic bombs, due to their lower potential, are considered less dangerous. President Joe Biden called them “a bad idea” that could lead them to use them more easily than strategic nuclear weapons, protagonists of a war without winners and of a sure loser, the human race, which could be totally exterminated.

a possible scenario

An atomic confrontation with tactical bombs between the United States and Russia can be stopped. Pentagon experts launch a nuclear device in response to a similar Russian explosion. It could be a B61-12 in Russia, perhaps in an uninhabited area.

The goal: the explosion would be a way to report it to Moscow “this is serious and things are getting out of control ”.

A thousand times more powerful than Hiroshima

Military experts believe Cold War nuclear weapons made the atomic bomb that destroyed Hiroshima look tiny. America’s largest test blast was a thousand times more powerful. That of Moscow has reached three thousand times more.

So tactical atomic bombs seem less scary and more feasible.

The Russian military has long practiced the transition from conventional to nuclear warfare, particularly as an advantage after losing. This was stated by Ullrich Kuhn of the University of Hamburg “The war is not going well for the Russians and the pressure from the West is increasing. “

“It feels awful to talk about these things, but we have to take them into account they are becoming a possibility”Said Professor Kuhn.

In Washington they predict that although he said last week he did not believe an atomic strike would come after threatening him a dozen times, Putin can awaken the mood with new “atomic mobilizations”.

Retired Air Force General James Clapper, former US National Intelligence Director, recalled that “Moscow reduced its atomic use to the limit after the Cold War.” But “Russia today considers nuclear weapons as utilitarian rather than unthinkable“.

Rome, correspondent

ap