Posted on 04/15/2017 5:23:12 AM PDT by davikkm
As the worlds attention was on the first combat use of the conventional Mother Of All Bombs, the US National Nuclear Security Administration announced the successful field test of the modernized gravity nuclear bomb in Nevada.
The NNSA and the US Air Force completed the first qualification flight test of the B61-12 gravity nuclear bomb on March 14 at the Tonopah Test Range in Nevada, the agency announced on Thursday.
It seems the Trump Administration is very secretive about what it has planned, and that is the way militarily it should be. I dont think anyone saw this coming.
The test was intended to evaluate the weapons non-nuclear functions and the capability of the F-16 fighter to successfully deploy the bomb. An F-16 fighter from Nellis Air Force Base dropped the non-nuclear test assembly, the NNSA said in a statement.
The successful test provides critical qualification data to validate that the baseline design meets military requirements, said Brigadier General Michael Lutton, NNSAs principal assistant deputy administrator for military application. The NNSA is part of the Department of Energy, which is charged with managing US nuclear weapons.
(Excerpt) Read more at investmentwatchblog.com ...
Worth every penny, I’m sure.
Yes they are gravity bombs. I loaded the B-61, MK-61 back then, when it first came out in the late sixties. Obviously this is a newer generation of the same. Tactical fighters such as the F-16 (F-100 in my case to show my age) actually release the weapon on an upward arc of a climb. not straight over and dump. Easy weapon to load compared to it predecessors.
Why do you want to steal content from other websites?
I don’t know but I assume it doesn’t detonate until it penetrates the ground after so many feet. Just a guess...
Gravity weapons are dropped from aircraft. There are other weapons that are delivered by missiles, and once we even had artillery delivered, and man-portable weapons. Those are not considered gravity weapons.
I am to assume under Obama instead of being "expensive" the wording would be somewhere along the lines of "needed" "forward thinking" or some other faint praise...
The NNSA is responsible for the design and production of nuclear weapons for the DoD. A separate agency within the Department of Energy, it is the legacy of the Atomic Energy Commission to ensure civilian control of the development of nuclear weapons, a policy from the outset of the Manhattan project.
NNSA and the B61 have nothing to do with MOAB which was a conventional weapon developed by the DoD.
NNSA did not test the B61 bomb - this was a test of the form and fit of an inert (non-nuclear) shape on the F16 to ensure that the plane flies with the bomb shape and the bomb shape follows the desired trajectory when dropped. There were no nuclear components involved as the US continues to observe the nuclear test moratorium.
The Pres is really playing with Kimmie’s head
Me too.
Thanks, good explanation.
And, the usual Sen Warren is screaming, wanting to know what President Trump has planned.
Telling your enemy what you plan to do is SUICIDE.
But then, former President Obama didn’t care if our military was put in danger .. he was terrified of them.
Such a nice piece of fresh air to have a President who understands how “power” works .. and how it’s working to tame NK through China.
We hated that thing in Nuke Weapons school.
Assembled using concave high-torque screws, which on a cylinder, is pretty tough to get a consistent bite on.
How can it pass the test if it doesn’t go boom. Unless the flight test consisted of dropping it and seeing if it fell to the ground or ended up in space.
“We dropped a 500 pound object. It hit the ground. The test was a success. Give us our bonuses”.
Oh yeah. I’ve “signed” a few of them myself.
It’s usually more a test of the bomb rack on the plane to make sure it releases. In wars there are not uncommon occurrences of planes returning with ordnance still to the plane.
Still, that was a good joke.
I went through Lowry AFB in 71 and was assigned to VAFB to work MMIII, Mk-12 Re-entry Systems for the duration.
How about you?
Went for initial training at Nuclear Weapons Training Group Pacific on Naval Air Station North Island in 83. Went back for advanced training in 90. Worked on B43, B57 and B61.
[2. At 700 lbs it can be carried by anything]
So you could, in theory, strap Rosie O’Donnell to an F-16 and drop her on ISIS?
Then again, that might violate the Geneva Convention.
We’ll just drop the LeRoy Neiman paintings.
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