Nuclear weapons under testing too: NATO starts exercises for all scenarios

Nuclear weapons under testing too
NATO starts exercises for all scenarios

In an emergency, NATO must be prepared for all kinds of threats, including nuclear ones. With this aim, armed forces from different nations are now meeting. At a military airfield, the equipment is checked for functionality, its exact location remains secret.

Armed forces from Germany and 13 other NATO countries have started their annual exercise to defend the alliance area with nuclear weapons. According to the alliance headquarters in Brussels, dozens of aircraft are involved in the exercise called “Steadfast Noon”. In addition to nuclear-capable fighter jets, this also includes conventional jets as well as surveillance and tanker aircraft, it said.

This year the venue for the exercise is the airspace over the southern alliance area. Accordingly, the use of tactical US nuclear weapons of the type B61 could be trained, which, according to officially unconfirmed information, are stored at the Ghedi military airfield in northern Italy. According to flight data evaluations by nuclear weapons expert Hans Kristensen, a German tornado landed in Ghedi on Monday.

The so-called nuclear participation of NATO provides that US nuclear weapons stationed in Europe are also dropped from aircraft of partner countries in an emergency and then, for example, switch off opposing armed forces. According to unconfirmed information, US nuclear weapons are also to be stored in Belgium, Turkey, the Netherlands and Büchel in Rhineland-Palatinate.

NATO did not want to comment on the exact training locations and other details. The communication only referred to the most recent summit declaration. It says: “As the security environment in Europe deteriorates, a credible and united nuclear alliance is vital.” At the same time, it was emphasized that after the end of the Cold War, NATO had drastically reduced the number of nuclear weapons stationed in Europe.

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