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Last August, Washington conducted aerial tests of the B61-12 thermonuclear bomb without an active warhead, dropped from F-35 fighter jets at the Tonopah military site in Nevada. These tests, confirmed by Sandia Laboratories, are part of a vast strategy to modernize the American nuclear arsenal.
On August 19, 20 and 21, the United States conducted a series of aerial tests of the B61-12 nuclear bomb, without a live charge, at the Tonopah military site in the state of Nevada. It was Sandia National Laboratories, attached to the US Department of Energy, which confirmed the operation, carried out in coordination with the NNSA (National Nuclear Security Administration).
Fifth-generation F-35 fighter jets transported and dropped the training bombs, in what officials describe as a “major” step in the operational evaluation of the weapon. Designed as a modernized version of the B61 nuclear bomb, developed in the 1960s, the B61-12 now has an advanced guidance system. This technology allows a release at high altitude without the use of a parachute, the bomb then gliding several kilometers to its target. Its precision is ensured by a new tail which allows the machine to correct its trajectory in flight, despite relatively low power (0.3 to 50 kilotons).
Validated compatibility with the F-35 Beyond the simple drop, these tests introduced a notable technical innovation: the first implementation of “thermal preconditioning” of the bomb on board the F-35, before its release. This procedure aimed to verify the resistance of the B61-12 to real thermal stresses in flight conditions. The results confirmed the environmental compatibility of the weapon with the aircraft, paving the way for its integration into the US Air Force. Jeffrey Boyd, testing manager for Sandia, hailed a major campaign. He said the flights represented “the largest series of tests ever carried out for the B61-12.” The aircraft mobilized for this operation came from Hill Air Force Base, Utah, and three test bombs were successfully dropped.
The whole made it possible to validate the interoperability between the crews, the vectors and the weapon system, according to the standards set by the NNSA. An assumed revival of the American nuclear doctrine This renewed activity in the nuclear field comes in a political context marked by a change of doctrine in Washington. On October 30, US President Donald Trump publicly announced his intention to resume nuclear testing “on an equal footing” with Russia and China. A decision motivated, according to him, by the refusal to leave the United States “alone in not testing their arsenal”. This speech comes shortly after the strategic advances announced by Russia, in particular with the “Bourevestnik” intercontinental missile and the “Poseidon” nuclear submarine drone.
Faced with these American declarations, the Kremlin recalled that no test of this type is currently underway in Russia or China. Spokesman Dmitry Peskov insisted that Moscow would never initiate such tests, while emphasizing that Russia reserves the right to ensure strategic balance if it becomes necessary. At the same time as these tests, various sources indicate that the United States would have discreetly redeployed around twenty B61-12 bombs on the British base at Lakenheath, reigniting speculation about a possible hardening of NATO’s nuclear posture in Europe. An initiative seen as a signal of escalation, at the very time when Washington claims to want to guarantee stability.