Russia finally withdraws from the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law revoking ratification of the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (NTBT) immediately after the United States announced the creation of a new American atomic bomb, which the media immediately described as “24 times more powerful than the one before.” dropped on Hiroshima.”

The American Pentagon announced its plans to create a new atomic bomb the day before yesterday, a few days after it became known that China plans to double its arsenal of nuclear warheads to more than 1,000 by 2030.

The US proposed new B61-13 nuclear gravity bomb would be launched from aircraft, including the $692 million B-21 Raider stealth bomber currently under development.

What could be better than the B61-12 nuclear bomb, asks a Ukrainian blogger, and immediately answers – only B61-13.

As the Pentagon announced: “B61-13 will enhance deterrence against adversaries and ensure the security of our allies and partners by providing the President with additional capabilities to engage some of the most complex, large-scale military targets.” US Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy John Plumb did not mention China or Russia, but said: “Today’s announcement reflects the evolving security environment and growing threats from potential adversaries.”

The weapon is the latest version of the B61 gravity bomb, which has been a key element of the US nuclear deterrent since the Cold War. Its maximum yield will be 360 ​​kilotons – 24 times more than the approximately 15 kiloton bomb dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. The United States currently has approximately 3,700 nuclear warheads, of which 1,419 have already been deployed.

However, the B61-13s will not be the most powerful nuclear bombs in the US arsenal, as they will be less than a third as powerful as the largest production US nuclear weapon, the B83, which has a yield of 1.2 megatons, 80 times the yield of the Hiroshima bomb. To create such a bomb, of course, will require… nuclear tests.

This means that Russia is virtually free to test new nuclear weapons at a critical moment for the planet, when relations between the United States and Russia are at their worst even compared to the Cold War.

The abandonment of the treaty came days after a strange chemical explosion (US media described it as an “explosive”) at an underground nuclear test site in Nevada (USA), just after Russian President Vladimir Putin’s triple nuclear warning, raising questions about whether What is this US secret weapon?

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