Europe's Secret Nuclear Weapons: What Should NATO Do?

Time Magazine ^ | 12/02/2009 | Eben Harrell

[ErnstStavroBlofeld]

Is Italy capable of delivering a thermonuclear strike? Could the Belgians and the Dutch drop hydrogen bombs on enemy targets? And what about Germany - a country where fear of atomkraft is so great that the last government opposed all civilian nuclear power? Germany's air force couldn't possibly be training to deliver bombs 13 times more powerful than the one that destroyed Hiroshima, could it?

It is Europe's dirty secret that the list of nuclear-capable countries extends beyond those - Britain and France - who have built their own weapons. Nuclear bombs are stored on air-force bases in Italy, Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands - and planes from each of those countries are capable of delivering them. The Federation of American Scientists believes that there are some 200 B61 thermonuclear gravity bombs scattered across these four countries. Under a NATO agreement struck during the Cold War, the bombs, which are technically owned by the U.S., can be transferred to the control of a host nation's air force in times of conflict. Twenty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Dutch, Belgian, Italian and German pilots remain ready to engage in nuclear war

[ErnstStavroBlofeld]

It is probably the worst secret because I have had maps and how many bombs each NATO base have for almost three years.

[ErnstStavroBlofeld]

[rlmorel]

B61’s...I used to load those things on carrier planes...They always looked like something designed by a science fiction writer or something.

Kind of like if you asked a kid to draw a picture of a nuclear bomb, they would draw a B61 without ever having seen it.

[oldenuff2no]

Lets play a game. Does anyone out there know what a “Custodial Agent” is???

[Shellback Chuck]

I can neither confirm nor deny.

[blam]

[ErnstStavroBlofeld]

200 Kt bang-bang.The newest variant is the B61 Mod 11, a hardened penetration bomb with a reinforced casing (according to some sources, containing depleted uranium) and a delayed-action fuze, allowing it to penetrate several metres into the ground before detonating

[ErnstStavroBlofeld]

http://www.basicint.org/pubs/Research/2000nuclearsharing5.htm

[rlmorel]

[Candor7]

The Federation of American Scientists believes that there are some 200 B61 thermonuclear gravity bombs scattered across these four countries.>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

And well they should be. Soon the world will see an Iran with nuclear bombs.

We soon will be back to MAD.

[ErnstStavroBlofeld]

They might have to move the bombs from Turkey because its closing ties to Iran. There about 90 bombs there.

[ErnstStavroBlofeld]

All those bombs are B-61 bombs with a yield of 200kt plus each

[1066AD]

Bring them all home, together with the vast majority of US servicemen. Let EU spend their own money on defense, it’s way past time.

[Torquay]

I was a 95B ( Military Police ) detailed as a 'custodial agent' of nuclear missiles in West Germany from Dec. 1985 until Feb. 1989- 507th USAAD, 5th group, 59th Ord. Brigade- Nike Hercules missile systems.

The missiles were under U.S. control- but in the event of a nuclear event the U.S. would "lease" the missiles to the Belgian Government and they would launch them under their responsibility--- we as custodial agents safe guarded the missiles until the time we handed of the Command and Control of the missiles over to the Belgians...

The work was insane-18 yrs old and I was instructed in how to launch nuclear missiles... We worked 3-4 man teams, 28 hrs on- 20 hrs off- with a 4 hour sleep shift ( mission permitting ). All items of entertainment beyond Field Manuals were prohibited- no radios, games, books etc ( this rule was broken quite regularly ). The Nike Hercules system was taken out of the U.S. arsenal in like 1980- but lived on within NATO- the level of competence of our command and support was reflected in the fact that the system had been mothballed.

Mentally we eroded. Pre-interwebs once down range we had no contact with the outside world, we waited, for the call up... and had no way to verify that the world was in danger.... We stood with missiles raised on launchers- sometimes for days in all kinds of weather- once I stood in 2 feet of snow in 10 below zero weather for 16 hours because Khadafi was flexing his 'muscles'.

"It was the best of times- it was the worst of times..." Feel free to ask questions. First to Battle

[oldenuff2no]

I had to smile. I did my time in Turkey and not any place on the list that was posted. It was a hell hole. Nuclear security and custody is a bitch in some parts of the world.
the MM-III’s, minute man 3’s, were a walk in the park compared to some places the Army had my butt parked. Then after a few years guess what??? The Air Force sent my tail end back to one of the detachments in Turkey and it still sucked.

[oldenuff2no]

They may move the nuclear weapons out of Turkey or they may just pull the guts out of them like they did when Turkey invaded Cypress.

[T-Bird45]

Lets play a game. Does anyone out there know what a “Custodial Agent” is???

It's been more than a few years but I bet I can remember most of the rules of that game. I was a Field Artillery officer on the LANCE missile system in West Germany. My unit was partnered with a West German LANCE unit that had US Custodial Agents assigned that we assisted with getting MOS training for Skill Qualification Testing. One of the officers assigned there had been in my FA Officer Basic Class.