Stoltenberg: NATO is discussing putting nuclear weapons on alert
NATO is discussing the need to bring its nuclear weapons to combat readiness, [...] Alliance Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said. The Kremlin has already called this statement "another escalation of tension." What Stoltenberg's words mean, what is the state of Western nuclear weapons, whether it is necessary to dust off nuclear ammunition and what does China have to do with it - in the material of the military observer of the Newspaper.En" by Mikhail Khodarenka.
NATO member States are consulting on the need to put nuclear weapons on alert. This was announced by the Secretary General of the alliance, Jens Stoltenberg.
"I will not go into operational details about how many nuclear warheads should be in working order and how to store them, but we need to consult on these issues. That's exactly what we're doing," he said.
The Kremlin has already read Stoltenberg's statements. "This is nothing but another escalation of tension," Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary of the Russian president, commented .
What does the statement of the NATO Secretary General mean? Of course, it is possible to talk for a long time in such categories and terms as "operationally deployed nuclear munitions", "operational storage nuclear weapons", "long-term storage nuclear weapons" and "strategic reserve nuclear weapons", to cite and compare various figures, but let's highlight the main thing.
All NATO member states with nuclear weapons (the United States, the United Kingdom, France) have planned in advance (especially in peacetime) the actions of strategic nuclear forces in the event of a nuclear war, their goal is to inflict a crushing defeat on a likely enemy. In the course of such operations, it is assumed:
- destruction of enemy nuclear forces groups, stocks of its nuclear and missile weapons;
- defeat of large groups of troops;
- the destruction of administrative and political centers, the most important objects of state and military management systems, and strategic action support systems;
- destruction of military-economic centers, the most important objects of the military industry, energy and transport communications;
- destruction of strategic stocks of conventional weapons, ammunition, fuel, strategic materials and raw materials.
To solve such tasks, intercontinental ballistic missiles and submarine-launched ballistic missiles are on combat duty, flight missions have been developed and introduced for all carriers.
In the United States, about 95% of intercontinental ballistic missiles are on duty, whose operational readiness for launch is only 6-9 minutes (according to other sources, after receiving an order from the US president, it will take only 4 minutes to launch). Strategic aviation can be engaged in combat duty within 24 hours.
So discussions on the need to put nuclear weapons on alert, which Stoltenberg spoke about in relation to the strategic nuclear forces (Strategic Nuclear Forces) of the United States and other NATO member states, are hardly appropriate.
Arsenal Upgrades
Stoltenberg also said that the United States and its European allies are now updating their nuclear arsenals. In fact, the United States began to modernize its nuclear arsenal much earlier . On October 31, 2017, the Congressional Budget Office reported that $1.2 trillion in 2017 prices planned for investment in strategic nuclear forces include $800 billion to maintain existing resources at the required level and $400 billion to modernize the US Strategic Nuclear Forces over the next three decades, up to 2046.
The US Navy is to replace nuclear-powered missile submarines of the Ohio type with the latest strategic missile submarines of the Columbia type. The new B-21 Raider strategic bomber will enter service in the Air Force. It is planned that the machine will be able to use both nuclear and conventional weapons anywhere in the world. In addition, the US Air Force plans to completely replace all 400-plus aging Minuteman-3 ICBMs with a new promising carrier. Also, a new strategic cruise missile with a nuclear charge will be put into service with American aviation.
Stoltenberg talked more about tactical nuclear weapons in his speech. In particular, he said: "The United States is upgrading its gravity bombs for nuclear warheads that they have deployed in Europe, and European allies are upgrading aircraft designed for the NATO nuclear mission."
Indeed, the tactical aviation of the US Air Force has a non-strategic nuclear bomb of the B61 type of several modifications, including the latest - B61-12.
Image source: US Department of Defense
Several hundred B-61s are stored in warehouses of air bases in European NATO countries. For their combat use, multifunctional fighters such as F-35, F-15, F-16 and Tornado from the US Air Force, Great Britain, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy and Turkey can be used. However, the share of these bombs in NATO's nuclear arsenals is relatively small, and their use was previously assumed primarily against non-nuclear states (for example, Iran).
So, most likely, in this part of his speech, Stoltenberg calls for reducing the time frame for the readiness of NATO tactical nuclear weapon carrier aircraft for combat use.
The Chinese threat
Among other things, the Secretary General of the alliance noted that China is of particular concern to NATO, which is investing heavily in the creation of modern weapons and is going to increase the number of its nuclear warheads to 1,000 by 2030.
On October 19, 2023, the US Department of Defense published the annual report "Military and Security Developments Involving the People's Republic of China" ("Developments in the field of the Armed forces and security of the People's Republic of China").
This document emphasizes that China has been actively developing its strategic nuclear forces for more than 10 years. It is expected that by 2035, the Strategic Nuclear Forces of the People's Republic of China in terms of the number of carriers and warheads will be equal to the leading nuclear powers - Russia and the United States.
In conclusion, we note that NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg never takes the initiative and does not express his opinion exclusively. So all of this, presumably, represents the consolidated opinion of the entire bloc. The meaning of the Secretary General's statements boils down to just a few provisions: NATO has nuclear weapons, they are being modernized and, if necessary, the alliance is ready to use them.
The opinion of the author may not coincide with the position of the editorial board.
Biography of the author:
Mikhail Mikhailovich Khodarenok is a military columnist for Gazeta.Ru", retired colonel.
He graduated from the Minsk Higher Engineering Anti-Aircraft Missile School (1976), the Military Air Defense Command Academy (1986).
Commander of the S-75 anti-aircraft missile division (1980-1983).
Deputy commander of the anti-aircraft missile regiment (1986-1988).
Senior Officer of the General Staff of the Air Defense Forces (1988-1992).
Officer of the Main Operational Directorate of the General Staff (1992-2000).
Graduated from the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russia (1998).
Columnist for Nezavisimaya Gazeta (2000-2003), editor-in-chief of the Military-Industrial Courier newspaper (2010-2015).
Mikhail Khodarenok
