New US nuclear weapons ‘dangerous’ potentials: Russia

The United States’ desire to upgrade its vast arsenal of nuclear weapons lowers the threshold for nuclear attacks and activates “dangerous” potentials, a senior Russian official says.

Mikhail Ulyanov, the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Non-Proliferation and Weapons Control Department, made the remarks on Tuesday, shortly after the US military confirmed the test-dropping an advanced nuclear bomb.

"US military specialists claim that this bomb will be more ethical and more usable, because it has greater accuracy and results in less catastrophic effects for civilians if used on vast areas," Ulyanov said.

"This prompts the conclusion that when they go operational, such bombs may objectively lower the threshold of using nuclear weapons. We see this as the key negative effect of the ongoing upgrade work," he added.

The US Air Force’s Nuclear Weapons Center (AFNWC) has been working with the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration to extend the B61 nuclear bomb’s life. The new variant, the B-61 Mod 12, will replace four ageing versions of the B61 in the US nuclear arsenal.

PressTV-US test-drops 2nd nuclear bomb

The US has carried out a second flight test in five months of a newly upgraded nuclear free-fall bomb.

US officials, including former US President Barack Obama’s key nuclear strategist General James E. Cartwright, have claimed that the newer versions of the B61 bomb “cause less catastrophic consequences for the civilian population.”

NPT violation

The Russian diplomat denounced a US plan to deploy the new bombs to a number of NATO-member states across Europe and said the measure was in breach of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

"The most recent variations of the B61-12 bombs are also designed for deployment to the territory of a number of NATO countries in Europe for use as part of the so-called nuclear missions involving pilots from the alliance’s non-nuclear member-states," he stated. "According to our assessment, this runs counter to the NPT commitments."

‘Dangerous potentials'

Ulyanov (pictured below) said the tests came amid unsubstantiated US and NATO claims that Russia was tilting towards a heavier use of nuclear weapons in its defense doctrine.

"There is such a feeling that these accusations also serve as a smoke screen to modernize rather dangerous US potentials," Ulyanov said.

The latest test came days after the Pentagon’s announcement of two major contracts with Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon and Northrop Grumman to upgrade the country’s decades-old intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) as well as its nuclear-capable cruise missiles.

US President Donald Trump has called for the US to “greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability.”

Read More:

• US inks secretive deal for nuke cruise missiles
• Pentagon strikes deal for new nuclear missiles

Besides land-based ICBMs, the US nuclear triad features a relatively large number of ageing nuclear bombers and submarines in need of modernization.

The Pentagon says it needs $350 billion to upgrade the whole triad along with America’s some 7,000 nuclear warheads. Some reports put the cost at around $1 trillion.

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