The United States is preparing to send an unknown number of its next generation nuclear weapons to military bases across Turkey and other NATO countries in Europe, according to a new report.
The report by Russian media comes weeks after the US Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (DOE/NNSA) and the US. Air Force carried out non-nuclear system qualification flight tests of the B61-12 gravity bomb at Tonopah Test Range in Nevada.
The tests on June 9, which were reported to be the first of their kind, sought to extend the decades-old B61 bomb’s service life by making it compatible with next generation aircraft, including B-2A Spirit bomber as well as the F-35 stealth jet.
“The B61-12 LEP will consolidate and replace the existing B61 bomb variants in the [US] nuclear stockpile. The first production unit is on schedule for completion in fiscal year 2020,” read a statement by DOE/NNSA in late June..
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