Washington’s nuclear modernization plans in Europe strike against global stability

Oct. 15, 2015 - PRLog -- The avid nuclear dispute in European and Russian expert and political communities is still ongoing after a report by Germany’s ZDF TV channel about Washington’s plans to station B61-12 modernized high-accuracy nuclear bombs in Germany.

From US budget reports and WikiLeaks secret documents, the journalists concluded that 20 new bombs will be stationed at Buchel airbase in Rheinland-Pfalz federal land by the end of 2015. According to experts, together these bombs have the explosive power of up to 1,000 kt, 80 times more than Little Boy atomic bomb used in the bombing of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945.

Soon after, the US National Nuclear Security Administration disproved the information, saying new B61-12 bombs will be stationed in Germany much later as their production will not begin until after 2020. At the same time, Ruediger von Fritsch, Ambassador of Germany in Russia, explained that the modernization plan only concerns the replacement of out-of-date components.

However, in March 2010, the German Bundestag voted in favor of beginning talks with Washington over gradual withdrawal of nuclear bombs from the country, while similar plans were included in the 2009 coalition agreement.

According to the 2014 report published by the Federation of American Scientists (FAS), B61 variable yield bombs stationed in Europe under the NATO nuclear sharing arrangement were first put into US service in 1968. At least 180 of such bombs are located in storage at six US bases in Belgium, Germany, Italy, Turkey and the Netherlands. Under the modernization program, they will be dismantled and converted into B61-12s equipped with guided tail kits instead of parachute systems for increased accuracy.

The modernization project for the US nuclear arsenal in Europe promises to become an expensive undertaking for Washington. According to official report, the United States allocated some $200 million for this program only in 2015, while the whole cost of the project that will last into late 2019 is at least $1 billion. This includes the costs for upgrading F-15E and F16 fighters, B-2 bombers and Panavia Tornado European aircraft to be able to carry the new bombs. These upgrades are scheduled to end by Q4 2018.

At present, the main point of discussion in the media and online is compatibility of the plans by Washington and Berlin with the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT): however, the opinions are currently ambiguous. Nevertheless, heads of Security Councils of Russia and Japan as well as some German political figures, such as the Bundestag member and representative of the Left Party of Germany Stefan Liebich, already expressed their concern over Washington’s plans.

“In a world where disarmament is more necessary then ever, it would be a signal of great value if the German government would tell the United States of America that their nuclear weapons are not to be stationed here any longer,” the politician said.

The Left Party of Germany has always been standing against any measures that could cause an inter-state conflict, he stressed.

The expert community in Germany and other European countries also met the news with mixed reaction. In particular, Goetz Neuneck, deputy director and head of Interdisciplinary Research Group on Disarmament, Arms Control and Risk Technologies of the Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy (IFSH) at the University of Hamburg, noted that the European public is largely unaware of the plans and wants no new nuclear bombs in NATO states, while he himself finds these measures unnecessary.

“The government, I think, is not very eager to have new bombs and what should be the rationale of it. […] But, as you know, military people in many countries, including Russia, are eager to modernize their weapons, and this is the argument by the Pentagon,” the analyst told “PenzaNews” agency in an interview.

He criticized Russia and the West for being unable so far to achieve a consensus over several urgent defense and security issues to defuse tensions, and added that a prolonged diplomatic stalemate can turn into another highly expensive arms race.

From the expert’s point of view, the modernization of US nuclear arsenal stationed in Germany and other states poses a danger to the 1991 Conventional Forces Treaty in Europe, and the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) signed by the US and the USSR in 1987.

“[The parties] should start negotiating a new treaty on conventional forces with limitations, including verification and crisis management architecture, and both nuclear sides – the American side and the Russian side – should negotiate an add-on protocol to the INF treaty,” Goetz Neuneck urged, placing particular emphasis on bilateral transparency measures.

In his opinion, Russia and the West can enjoy a successful cooperation in the field of defense by solving different objectives and exchanging data to neutralize common threats, but such a scenario is hardly a possibility at present time.

Meanwhile, Henning Riecke, head of Transatlantic Relations program at the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP), stressed that the United States will not get rid of their nuclear arsenal in Europe, in spite of the voices of protest coming from the German public and nuclear disarmament activists.

Full text news agency "PenzaNews":http://penzanews.ru/en/opinion/59720-2015