Washington. 24. November. INTERFAX - American F-15E fighter jets carried out a training bombing using unarmed nuclear bombs in the state of Nevada, the US Air Force reported.
As part of the US Air Force exercises, F-15E Strike Eagle fighters with unarmed B61-3 and B61-4 tactical aerial bombs were lifted from Nellis Air Base in Nevada to conduct bombing, the report says.
The bombing was carried out at the Tonopah test site in Nevada in early autumn "in order to test the capabilities of the F-15E to deliver tactical nuclear weapons of the B61 series to the target," the report says.
Earlier, the US National Nuclear Safety Administration reported that it is planned to start mass production of a new B61-12 tactical nuclear aerial bomb in the near future.
It is assumed that already in 2022 they will arrive to replace outdated versions of this aerial bomb (B61-3 and B61-4) at American warehouses in the continental United States and in Europe.
According to reports, the B61-12 bombs (with a capacity of 0.3, 1.5, 10 or 50 kilotons), in particular, will be placed in underground warehouses at air bases in Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy and Turkey, which are under the control of the US military.
According to various estimates, currently in the European theater of operations, the United States has from 100 to 150 nuclear bombs for use by tactical aviation. They are designed to equip tactical fighter-bombers F-35A, F-15E and F-16C/D, F/A-18 and Tornado of the US Air Force and other NATO member countries.