President Barack Obama is in the eye of the storm for the cost of his nuclear weapons arsenal modernization program, estimated at one trillion dollars within the next 30 years. According to Federation of American Scientists, about 225 thousand kits have already been delivered to the USA to upgrade the four in-service versions of the B-61 family.
The B61-12 nuclear bomb was designed to be transported by the F-35. The 180 tested B61 located in the six bases in Europe, will be converted to the Mod-12 version within the next three years (funds already allocated).
The B61-12 with an accuracy of 30 meters from the lens requires only one tested by 50 kilotons (a more acceptable power and with fewer side effects). This means more accuracy and a new use on the battlefield. The detonating efficiency of a head from 50 kilotons, within a radius of 30-68 meters, is absolutely necessary to pulverize any type of fortified bunker.
B61 technology is also known as "Dial-a-yield". This means that each bomb has an adjustable power: from a maximum equivalent of 50.000 tons of TNT to a minimum of 300. The use on the battlefield, therefore, can be customized depending on the desired effect and the objective.
Upgrades will be completed by the end of the 2018, on pain of deterioration of the more obsolete titles (ie those located in Europe) for a total of 500 tested Mod-3, 4, 7 and 10 to be converted. With the new modifications, the bombs can be used more "easily" by the commanders in the field. While not technically a new weapon, the Pentagon update transforms the current "stupid" (that is, free-fall) nuclear inventory into "intelligent", into a weapon system, that is, a precision-guided one.
It should be noted that precisely in Europe, the B-61-12 can be transported exclusively by the F-35. F-16 and Tornado, in fact, due to some incompatibilities between the systems, could not launch the new Mod-12. The point is that the US nuclear modernization program involves the development of another five new atomic warheads with scalar power.
The "Dial-a-yield" concept should not be misunderstood. The relatively "small" yield makes the use of an intelligent atomic weapon "easier", although the United States is proposing the slogan of a nuclear-free world , Russia and China have already expressed their concerns, Moscow considers the B61-12 'irresponsible', while Beijing has expressed its concerns about such a top asset.
The fact is that the US hopes it will never be used. The B-61, in fact, should represent a nuclear deterrent considered able to dissuade even the allies themselves from developing "homemade" nuclear weapons. The Americans plan to integrate the B61-12 also on the aircraft carriers, reviving the concept of "double capacity".
The US government, to date, envisages the possibility of equipping land-based F-35As with nuclear weapons, but even the F-35C could receive the same capabilities as a "visible manifestation of the United States' commitment to protecting its own "allies.
According to 'The Atom Project' "America needs several nuclear weapons: from low-yielding ones to tactical nuclear weapons up to weapons of mass destruction".
