Unic Press UK: United States successfully carried out a test of its B61-12 bomb, which is a modernized version of the B61 nuclear gravity bomb, said the National Nuclear Security Administration in a press release on Thursday.
This test is another striking surprise to observers/commentators of politics given recent U.S. bombing of Islamic States’ fortresses/caves in Afghanistan with a GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast Bomb (MOAB) [also known as the “Mother of All Bomb” (MOAB)].
United States’ mother of all bombs, the country’s largest non-nuclear military arsenal was unleashed on a network of caves and tunnels used by Islamic State in eastern Afghanistan, 13.4.17
Excerpts from the press release by the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) on the B61-12 test reads:
“The Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (DOE/NNSA) and the U.S Air Force completed the first qualification flight test of the B61-12 gravity bomb March 14 at Tonopah Test Range in Nevada.
“The non-nuclear test assembly was dropped from an F-16 based at Nellis Air Force Base. The test evaluated both the weapon’s non-nuclear functions as well as the aircraft’s capability to deliver the weapon. This event is the first of a series that will be conducted over the next three years to qualify the B61-12 for service. Three successful development flight tests were conducted in 2015.
“The successful test provides critical qualification data to validate that the baseline design meets military requirements. It reflects the nation’s continued commitment to our national security and that of our allies and partners.
The B61-12 consolidates and replaces four B61 bomb variants in the nation’s nuclear arsenal. The first production unit is scheduled to be completed by March 2020.” (NNSA: 13th April 2017)
The outcome of U.S test of a B61-12 bomb is unlikely to rattle military powers around the globe [Russia, China included] in the light of unimaginable sophistication of the U.S. military. What might have raised serious concern is the timing of this test given the tensions in the Korean Peninsula, where it seems the U.S. is a few metres from attacking a nuclear armed country, North Korea [officially known as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea].
Given the term “nuclear triad” [strategic bombers, land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs)] that describes the three ways of delivering a nuclear weapon on a quarry, the new B61-12 bombs have become another leg of the strategic bomber arm of the U.S. nuclear triad.
President Donald Trump had been unequivocal about his commitment to enhance the nuclear triad of the United States.
