Posted on 03/25/2020 6:52:12 PM PDT by Olog-hai
Viewed from above, the fields surrounding Büchel air base stretch out like a greenish-brown patchwork quilt, punctuated by the small villages and woodlands that make up the Eifel region in western Germany.
Take a closer look at satellite imagery, and you can make out several dozen camouflaged airplane hangars. Hidden deep below them lies a carefully guarded secret: underground vaults housing American nuclear bombs that date back to the Cold War. […]
In March 2010, Germany’s parliament, the Bundestag, passed a cross-party resolution urging the government to “emphatically” work towards getting its American allies to withdraw all nuclear weapons from Germany. It followed then-US President Barack Obama’s call to create a world without nuclear weapons.
But, a decade on, that goal seems ever more elusive, following Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 and investment in nuclear-capable medium-range missiles. Now, rather than working towards the bombs’ withdrawal, the US military is set to modernize and upgrade them. […]
The new bomb — the B-61-12 — will have “significantly enhanced capabilities,” says (FAS director Hans) Kristensen: It is equipped with a tail kit, which enables it to be delivered and hit its target much more accurately. Kristensen has modeled its accuracy at about 30 to 60 meters (98 to 196 feet). The current bombs are simply dropped from the plane, rather than like ones with tail kits, which guide themselves once released. Many experts worry that may make the bomb more attractive to deploy — as, rather than wiping out an entire region, it could be used to strike a precise target. …
(Excerpt) Read more at dw.com ...
“I’m always scratching my head in amazement how we keep insisting on smaller warheads while our enemies are going supersized.”
Oddly you are in error. Four 250 kiloton weapons properly targeted will do far more damage that one 1 megaton weapon. It all has to do with the area of a circle and distance.
Back in the seventies on occasion I would fly over Carswell Air Force Base in Fort Worth in my aircraft at night. It was legal and I was under positive control from ATC. It was rather eerie to look down and see all those B52s on the ground with flood lights all around them. They were loaded with nukes and ready to go in an instant.
Totally agree. We did way more than our share and they treat us like a red-headed stepchild. Let them deal with Russia on their own. They'll soon find out Russia is not their friend.
This fricking author wants to become a “writer.”
JUST TELL ME THE DMND FACTS, don’t embellish this crap with you flowery stinking words.
Wow. I’ll bet. From air at night I’ll bet they looked like big, dark shapes like vultures on the ground, wings spread, with ants moving all around them!
I know about that, as that is the principle behind the MIRV delivery system, but many people didnt get the circular pattern kills benefits it gives.
But nevertheless the latest versions are a pitiful 60KT vs the 340KT, and that's my ire.
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