langleybaston
3rd Apr 2023, 18:20
D TEL online today.
Pictured: Nuclear bomb at air base appears to have been twisted by impact'Bent spear' incident thought to be first of its kind with a nuclear weapon in Europe since 1960s
ByJames Crisp, (https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/j/ja-je/james-crisp/) EUROPE EDITOR3 April 2023 • 5:18pm
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/world-news/2023/04/03/TELEMMGLPICT000331090090_trans_NvBQzQNjv4Bq0CjG5m5anLXLD_-K2ceRsLwHsFeDgxrCnbJEtrxTA2g.jpeg?imwidth=680
A photo shows four people inspecting what appears to be a damaged B61 nuclear bomb CREDIT: fas.orgA US nuclear bomb was bent in what appears to be the first case of an accident involving nuclear weapons in Europe (https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/05/28/us-soldiers-revealed-locations-nuclear-weapons-europe-posting/) since the Cold War.
A photograph of a B61 bomb (https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2022/10/27/us-send-nuclear-weapons-nato-bases-amid-rising-tensions-russia/) with a very noticeable curve in its middle being inspected by US soldiers at a Dutch air base was discovered by the Federation of American Scientists (FAS) .
The rear of the bomb appeared to have been twisted by an impact, with a tail fin missing and pink sticky tape has been plastered over a hole in the weapon.'Significant force'“What caused the damage to the B61 shape is unknown, but it appears to have been a significant force,” the report on the FAS website said.
“It could potentially have been hit by a vehicle or bent out of shape by the weapons elevator of the underground storage vault.”
The FAS found the photo in a Los Alamos National Laboratory student briefing from 2022.
The briefing doesn’t say where the photo was taken but the FAS report has matched it to pictures taken inside a shelter at Volkel Air Base (https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/netherlands/10110527/22-pointless-US-nuclear-bombs-at-Dutch-airbase.html) in the Netherlands.
The picture shows the weapon being inspected by US soldiers, including two from a bomb disposal unit.
The Volkel air base is one of six places across five European countries where the US stores nuclear weapons.
Hans Kristensen, the report author and director of the FAS nuclear information project, said there had been no official confirmation that the photo was taken at Volkel, that the bent bomb was real and not a training device or that the damage was the result of an accident.
“If the image is indeed from a nuclear weapons event, it would constitute the first documented case of a recent nuclear weapons accident at an air base in Europe,” he said.'Bent spear' incidents usually kept a secretIf a nuclear weapon is damaged it is known as a “bent spear” incident and kept secret in most cases.
The last time US nuclear weapons were involved in an accident in Europe that was made public was in 1966, when a B-52 bomber carrying four hydrogen bombs collided with a tanker aircraft during midair refuelling over Spain.
Two of the weapons were recovered relatively intact, but the non-nuclear explosives in the other two detonated on impact, spreading radioactive contamination over a wide area near the fishing village of Palomares, in south-eastern Spain.
A US air force spokesman said it had the highest standards for “personnel and equipment” but could not “confirm nor deny the presence or absence of nuclear weapons at any general or specific location”.
The B61 is the only tactical nuclear weapon left in the US arsenal. 100 are stored in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Italy and Turkey.
Pictured: Nuclear bomb at air base appears to have been twisted by impact'Bent spear' incident thought to be first of its kind with a nuclear weapon in Europe since 1960s
ByJames Crisp, (https://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/j/ja-je/james-crisp/) EUROPE EDITOR3 April 2023 • 5:18pm
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/world-news/2023/04/03/TELEMMGLPICT000331090090_trans_NvBQzQNjv4Bq0CjG5m5anLXLD_-K2ceRsLwHsFeDgxrCnbJEtrxTA2g.jpeg?imwidth=680
A photo shows four people inspecting what appears to be a damaged B61 nuclear bomb CREDIT: fas.orgA US nuclear bomb was bent in what appears to be the first case of an accident involving nuclear weapons in Europe (https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/05/28/us-soldiers-revealed-locations-nuclear-weapons-europe-posting/) since the Cold War.
A photograph of a B61 bomb (https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2022/10/27/us-send-nuclear-weapons-nato-bases-amid-rising-tensions-russia/) with a very noticeable curve in its middle being inspected by US soldiers at a Dutch air base was discovered by the Federation of American Scientists (FAS) .
The rear of the bomb appeared to have been twisted by an impact, with a tail fin missing and pink sticky tape has been plastered over a hole in the weapon.'Significant force'“What caused the damage to the B61 shape is unknown, but it appears to have been a significant force,” the report on the FAS website said.
“It could potentially have been hit by a vehicle or bent out of shape by the weapons elevator of the underground storage vault.”
The FAS found the photo in a Los Alamos National Laboratory student briefing from 2022.
The briefing doesn’t say where the photo was taken but the FAS report has matched it to pictures taken inside a shelter at Volkel Air Base (https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/netherlands/10110527/22-pointless-US-nuclear-bombs-at-Dutch-airbase.html) in the Netherlands.
The picture shows the weapon being inspected by US soldiers, including two from a bomb disposal unit.
The Volkel air base is one of six places across five European countries where the US stores nuclear weapons.
Hans Kristensen, the report author and director of the FAS nuclear information project, said there had been no official confirmation that the photo was taken at Volkel, that the bent bomb was real and not a training device or that the damage was the result of an accident.
“If the image is indeed from a nuclear weapons event, it would constitute the first documented case of a recent nuclear weapons accident at an air base in Europe,” he said.'Bent spear' incidents usually kept a secretIf a nuclear weapon is damaged it is known as a “bent spear” incident and kept secret in most cases.
The last time US nuclear weapons were involved in an accident in Europe that was made public was in 1966, when a B-52 bomber carrying four hydrogen bombs collided with a tanker aircraft during midair refuelling over Spain.
Two of the weapons were recovered relatively intact, but the non-nuclear explosives in the other two detonated on impact, spreading radioactive contamination over a wide area near the fishing village of Palomares, in south-eastern Spain.
A US air force spokesman said it had the highest standards for “personnel and equipment” but could not “confirm nor deny the presence or absence of nuclear weapons at any general or specific location”.
The B61 is the only tactical nuclear weapon left in the US arsenal. 100 are stored in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Italy and Turkey.