The U.S. announced the deployment of its gravity-based nuclear bombs in Europe.

The United States has updated its nuclear arsenal in Europe, announcing the deployment of additional B61-12 bombs on the continent.

“The B61-12 gravity bombs are fully deployed,” said Jill Gruby, head of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), as reported by The Moscow Times. She did not provide details on the number of bombs or the countries where they are located.

The U.S. has informed its NATO partners about American nuclear capabilities through visits and various events, she clarified.

The B61 bombs are the oldest yet most versatile weapons in the U.S. nuclear arsenal. The B61-12 model has a lower yield, up to 50 kilotons, but is more accurate due to its tail fins. After being dropped from an aircraft, the bomb can autonomously navigate towards its target.

Production of the B61-12 began in 2021. Last week, the NNSA announced the completion of a $9 billion upgrade program for these bombs.

According to Jill Gruby, the Pentagon received the last batch in December. The NNSA now intends to move on to developing the B61-13 bomb, which will have a yield of 360 kilotons, similar to the B61-7. Production is expected to start in the 2026 fiscal year.

NATO is demonstrating strength in light of a “fundamentally new” nuclear landscape that has emerged since the start of the war in Ukraine, the NNSA head explained.

She noted that these actions are a response to Russia's behavior, which has “repeatedly violated rules of conduct” over the past few years, undermining strategic stability—specifically, by seizing the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, deploying tactical warheads in Belarus, withdrawing from the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, lowering the threshold for using such weapons by revising the relevant doctrine, and beginning to work on deploying nuclear weapons in space.

Gruby emphasized the importance and strength of the strategic partnership between Washington and London in this area.

Last January, it was revealed that the U.S. decided to return nuclear weapons to the United Kingdom due to threats from Russia.

As of 2023, approximately 100 B61 bombs were stored in Europe.

Between 10 and 15 bombs were deployed at NATO airbases in Büchel (Germany), Kleine Brogel (Belgium), Volkel (Netherlands), and Ghedi (Italy), with another 20 each at the Aviano (Italy) and Incirlik (Turkey) airbases.

The B61-12 model can be used by F-35A, F-15E, F-16, and Tornado fighter jets. Politico reported that these bombs began to be deployed in Europe starting in December 2022.