C-17A aircraft from the 62nd Airlift Wing stationed at Joint Lewis–McChord Base serve for worldwide airlift of nuclear weapons and associated equipment.
On January 9, the Federation of American Scientists (FAS) announced that large military transport aircraft C-17A Globemaster III of the US Air Force were certified to carry new B61-12 nuclear bombs.
According to US experts, the US Air Force amended the safety rules for transportation of nuclear weapons by air back in November 2022 to allow C-17A Globemaster III aircraft to carry B61-12 nuclear bomb. The new instructions allowed C-17As to transport the advanced nuclear weapons to military bases both in the United States and Europe.
The updated Air Force instruction did not confirm reports that the transportation of nuclear weapons began in December 2-22; but US experts clarified that some preparations to their transfer are ongoing.
In October 2022, the US National Nuclear Safety Administration (NNSA) confirmed to the FSA experts the start of full-scale production of new B61-12 nuclear bombs.
According to a senior Pentagon official assured that the production of these nuclear bombs was not accelerated in response to the military conflict in Ukraine.
“Nothing has changed in the schedule. There is no acceleration due to the Ukrainian crisis, production of the B61-12 is proceeding according to the planned schedule,” he said.
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The 500kg bomb has a length of over 3.5 m and a diameter of about 30 cm. Unlike its predecessor, it is equipped with four aerodynamic rudders that allow it to change the trajectory of the fall. The handlebars, coupled with a satellite guidance system, provided it with high hit accuracy of up to 10 m.
During the flight, the onboard equipment of the bomb tracks its location by GPS, checking it with the coordinates of the target. However, due to the lack of an active homing guidance system, the bomb can only hit stationary targets.
Depending on the task, the capacity can vary from 30 tons to 50 kilotons in TNT equivalent.
It was earlier reported that about 480 new B61-12 bombs would come to replace the outdated versions already in 2022.
The new B61-12 were expected to be deployed to Europe in 2022–2024, in place of older B61-3 and B61-4s. There are six operating bases in five European countries and Turkey, where approximately 100 B61 tactical nuclear bombs are located in underground storage facilities at air bases. Among them are the Buchel air bases in Rhineland-Palatinate (Germany), Klein-Brogel (Belgium), Volkel (Netherlands), Aviano and Gedi (Italy) and Incirlik (Turkey).
At the moment, it is unknown whether deliveries of the B61-12 to Europe have begun. If not yet, then it is inevitable, according to American experts.
