Deterrence against Russia: Germany sends tornadoes to NATO nuclear weapons exercises

Brussels. In the coming days, the German Air Force will take part in a NATO maneuver with several fighter aircraft to defend the alliance's territory with nuclear weapons. As a spokesman for the German Press Agency said, three Tornados from Tactical Air Force Squadron 33 will be relocated to Aviano Air Base in northern Italy for the exercise called “Steadfast Noon”.

The machines are normally stationed at the Büchel base in Rhineland-Palatinate. According to officially unconfirmed information, US nuclear weapons are stored there, which in an emergency could also be dropped by German fighter-bombers using NATO's concept of so-called nuclear sharing. Bases in countries such as Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands are considered other storage locations for US nuclear weapons in Europe.

NATO has not yet provided any information about the details of the exercise that begins this Tuesday. Alliance headquarters simply said that the scope was comparable to the previous year. At that time, NATO spoke of around 2,000 military personnel and more than 70 aircraft involved. These included state-of-the-art F-35 fighter jets as well as surveillance and tanker aircraft.

The training scenario is also secret. According to military experts, the exercises, which take place regularly in October, include training in how to safely transport the weapons from underground magazines to the aircraft and mount them under the fighter jets. However, during this and the subsequent attack exercises, only practice bombs without a real nuclear warhead are used.

NATO nuclear policy chief Nassima Barrows said at the end of last week about the upcoming exercise that “Steadfast Noon” was intended to demonstrate that NATO is ready to defend the alliance area if the worst comes to the worst and that it also has the necessary capabilities. Of course, real nuclear weapons would not be used.

According to NATO information, the exercise has no connection with current global political events and is not directed against a specific country. In its threat analysis, however, the alliance has been focusing primarily on Russia for years. It was only at the end of last month that Moscow was once again accused of nuclear saber rattling. Russia had previously threatened the possible use of its entire military arsenal, including nuclear weapons, in view of NATO maneuvers and what it saw as the threat of isolation of Kaliningrad.

There was initially no reaction from the Russian side to the maneuver announcement. Last year, Moscow launched its own large-scale exercise of its strategic nuclear forces in parallel with NATO's ongoing nuclear exercise. Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin emphasized at the time that it was a planned military exercise.

According to Russian information, a Yars intercontinental ballistic missile was launched during the exercise from the Plesetsk cosmodrome in northern Russia. In addition, Tu-95 strategic bombers fired cruise missiles and the nuclear submarine “Bryansk” in the Barents Sea also fired a missile.

Independent of the annual nuclear weapons exercise, NATO has been working on plans to expand nuclear deterrence in Europe for some time in view of the threats from Russia. According to research by the German Press Agency, stationing additional US nuclear weapons is also an option.

Scientists from the expert group “The Bulletin” even believe it is possible that the USA has already moved B61-12 bombs to the Lakenheath air base in Great Britain. If the security situation worsens further, countries such as Poland and Finland as well as Lithuania could also come into view as stationing locations.

The planning is primarily about so-called non-strategic nuclear weapons. These are intended, for example, for use against enemy troops, airfields, ports, command centers and other military infrastructure. Compared to strategic nuclear weapons, they often have lower yield and are usually used with fighter aircraft or shorter-range missiles or cruise missiles as carriers. After the massive nuclear disarmament after the end of the Cold War, nuclear experts estimate that only around 100 US B61-12 bombs were currently stored at six air bases in Germany, Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey.

In an interview with the German Press Agency in July, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte did not rule out the possibility of more US nuclear weapons being stationed in Europe in the future. However, for confidentiality reasons, he did not want to comment on details of the ongoing discussions. The alliance is continually assessing what capabilities are needed and what the nuclear deterrent mix should look like, he explained. “Wherever we need to make adjustments, we will.”