Iran nuclear-free, but U.S. sends A-bombs to Italy
“Today is a historic day and it is a great honor for us to announce that we have reached an accord on the Iranian nuclear solution, to make our world safer.” Federica Mogherini, European Union high representative for foreign and security policy, said this in Vienna on July 14.
Almost simultaneously, another announcement arrived from the United States: “The U.S. Air Force and National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) have conducted the first flight test of the jointly developed B61-12 guided nuclear bomb from a Boeing F-15E Strike Eagle at the Tonopah Test Range in Nevada.” (flightglobal.com, July 10) This weapon will soon replace the U.S. nuclear bomb called B61, with between 70 and 90 of them stored in Aviano and Ghedi Torre, part of an arsenal of at least 200 nuclear weapons stored in Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Turkey.
The success of the test, “provides clear evidence of the nation’s continued commitment to maintain the B61,” says the NNSA, which then specifies that “the B61-12, with a tail kit assembly produced by Boeing, will replace the B61-3, -4, -7, -10 bombs in the current U.S. nuclear arsenal.” It is thus officially confirmed that the B61 bomb will be transformed from a free falling bomb to a “smart” bomb, which can be dropped on the target from a great distance. The precision-guided B61-12, whose cost is estimated at 8 billion to 12 billion dollars for 400 to 500 bombs, is configured as a multipurpose weapon, with an average power of 50 kilotons (about four times that of the Hiroshima bomb). It will perform the function of many bombs, including those designed to “decapitate” the enemy country, destroying the bunker command centers and other underground structures in a nuclear first strike.
