US nukes at Turkey base at risk of seizure — report

US nukes at Turkey base at risk of seizure — report
Think tank warns nuclear assets at Incirlik airfield could fall to ‘hostile elements’ amid protracted civil strife.

www.timesofisrael.com/us-nukes-at-turkey-base-at-risk-of-seizure-report/

besacenter.org/perspectives-papers/us-nuclear-weapons-turkey/

Amid the recent self-congratulatory celebrations of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s 70th anniversary, there was no mention one of its strangest policies: the nuclear sharing program that keeps American nuclear bombs in five NATO countries (Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy and Turkey) and trains host air forces to use them. Thus at Incirlik Air Base in Turkey, about 100 miles from the Syrian border, the United States stores some 20 to 80 B61 nuclear weapons for delivery by Turkish or American aircraft. There is not much comfort in knowing that these weapons are under direct American control in heavily guarded bunkers and are designed to be unusable without the proper codes. It is time to bring them home

The B61 is of the variable yield (“dial-a-yield” in informal military jargon) design with a yield of 0.3 to 340 kilotons in its various mods. It has a streamlined casing capable of withstanding supersonic flight speeds. The weapon is 11 ft 8 in (3.56 m) long, with a diameter of about 13 inches (33 cm). Basic weight is about 700 pounds (320 kg), although the weights of individual weapons may vary depending on version and fuze/retardation configuration.

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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B61_nuclear_bomb

Maximum Yield 340 Kilotons

For comparison, The Little Boy atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, exploded with an energy of about 15 kilotons of TNT

Not exactly, H bomb destruction — but enough to ruin your day.

h/t EmilioLizardo

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