nuclear-news

“It’s official: B-52 bombers are no longer authorized to carry nuclear gravity bombs,” Kristensen said in a tweet earlier this week. “New Air Force instruction describes ‘removal of B61-7 and B83-1 from B-52H approved weapons configuration.'”

Command officials pointed out that the move actually preceded the AFI.

“The removal of nuclear gravity weapons like the B-61 and B-83 from the B-52 platform has been in effect for several years,” said Justin Oakes, public affairs director for the Eighth Air Force and Joint-Global Strike Operations Center.

“The B-52 remains the premier stand-off weapons platform utilizing the air-launched cruise missile as the main nuclear deterrent. While B61s and B83s are no longer equipped on the B-52, the weapons remain in the [B-2 Spirit] inventory,” he added.

Eventually, the LRSO — a nuclear cruise missile that provides an air-launched capability as part of the nuclear triad — will replace the AGM-86B ALCM, developed in the early 1980s.

The command said the LRSO, expected by the early 2030s, is one of many investments to keep the B-52, known as the Big Ugly Fat Fellow, flying into the foreseeable future……..https://www.military.com/daily-news/2020/01/18/b-52-will-no-longer-carry-certain-nuclear-weapons-heres-why.html