USA shows its teeth to China and Russia. B61-12 nuclear bomb launched from an F-35

The United States Air Force has carried out a series of flight tests that, for the first time, demonstrate that the F-35 is prepared to launch the B61-12 nuclear gravity bomb.

In what appears to be a show of force against China and Russia, in a context of growing nuclear tension, the USA launched, for the first time, a nuclear bomb B61-12 from a fifth-generation F-35A fighter-bomber.

These tests, which took place last August at the Tonopah field in Nevada, used inert pumpswith the same design usually used in combat versions, but no nuclear explosive charge.

The F-35 thus became the single fifth generation aircraft certified for nuclear missions, surpassing its Russian (Su-57) and Chinese (J-20) competitors, which have not yet received authorization for this type of missions, highlights the .

This advance reinforces the US’s deterrent power, especially vis-à-vis China and Russia, which recently successfully tested the “never seen” nuclear missile .

The tests, carried out between August 19 and 21, consisted of loading several inert B61-12 bombs into the F-35A’s weapons bays, transporting them from Base Hill, Utah, to Tonopah and launch them during controlled test flights.

The pumps used are identical to combatexcept for the absence of the nuclear warhead, which allows validate the full functioning of the system — plane, crew and weapons — without the risk of detonation.

For the first time, the bomb was subjected to a thermal preconditioning before transport and launch, notes El Confidencial. This procedure replicates the extreme temperature and vibration conditions that these weapons are exposed to in a real mission, ensuring that the electronics and structure work without surprises, even in the face of climate changes that could compromise the mission.

Growing nuclear tension

The B61 bomb was created in the 1960s at the Los Álamos National Laboratory and has since evolved into increasingly powerful versionss.

The US Department of Defense believes that, thanks to the recent modernization of the B61-12 model, its useful life will be extended for another two decades. The B61-12 has a power of 50 kilotons and is equipped with safety, protection and navigation systems that make it more effective and precise.

Meanwhile, the US is already working on a new version, even more powerful: a B61-13. This bomb will have a capacity of 360 kilotons — 24 times the power of the bomb that exploded in Hiroshima and 14 times that of Nagasaki — and will be ready by the end of this year, according to North American sources.

Second Hans Kristensena specialist in nuclear weapons, the new bomb will incorporate the B61-7 warheadsbut with the B61-12’s improved navigation systems, developed by Boeing, which ensure precise impacts and penetration capable of causing underground explosions of up to 1 megaton.

The news of the test comes at a time of worsening tensions due to the return of nuclear tests.

A few days after the announcement of the Burevestnik test, the President of Russia, Vladimir Putinannounced a test of the Poseidonthe “unstoppable doomsday torpedo” that causes tsunamis.

In response to these announcements, Donald Trump called on the War Department to “start testing” US nuclear weapons. “I HATE doing thisbut I have no alternative”, wrote the North American president at the time in his Truth Social.