Entire US air force goes dark
A strange thing is taking place early Monday morning. All United States military aircraft have turned their transponders off. The planes can no longer be tracked by civilian entities or via the Internet.
Even more ominous, word is coming out of several regional airports around the US, especially several near US nuclear missile bases, that fighter and other military aircraft are being quietly moved to those Regional airports, with no explanation.
One possibility is that the US is moving the aircraft to put them away from likely nuclear attack targets, such as air bases. This would – in theory – allow some of the US military aircraft to survive a nuclear first strike. It’s almost the same as when the military moves planes or ships to avoid a coming hurricane.
Page Regional Airport in North Dakota is one such air field where military aircraft are said to be re-positioned. Page is about 219 miles from Minot Air Force Base, a nuclear weapons base.
Word came late last week that a very unusual and large number of military aircraft were seen flying into that airport. At 219 miles away from Minot, the aircraft sent to Page would likely survive a nuclear attack against Minot itself.
Questions being raised today about military planes with no transponders, include folks asking, are ALL military planes now being physically re-positioned? If so, why?
Does the U.S. expect an incoming nuclear strike? Or is the U.S. planning a nuclear first strike against Russia, and is therefore moving its planes in anticipation of a return strike?
No answers.
Russia Says US Lowering ‘Nuclear Threshold’
Authored by Dave DeCamp via AntiWar.com,
A Russian official said Saturday that the US is lowering the “nuclear threshold” by sending an upgraded version of its B61 nuclear bomb to NATO bases in Europe.
The B61 is the US’s primary thermonuclear gravity bomb, and it is being modernized into a newer weapon known as the B61-12. Politico reported last week that the US told NATO allies at a recent meeting that it is deploying the B-61-12 to Europe to replace older bombs by this December, a faster timeline than the originally planned spring deployment.
“We cannot ignore the plans to modernize nuclear weapons, those free-fall bombs that are in Europe,” said Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko, according to Russia’s RIA news agency.
The US has approximately 100 B61s currently stored at air bases in Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, and Turkey. According to the Federation of American Scientists, the B61-12s carry a lower yield and are more accurate than older B61s.
“The United States is modernizing them, increasing their accuracy and reducing the power of the nuclear charge, that is, they turn these weapons into ‘battlefield weapons,’ thereby reducing the nuclear threshold,” Grushko said.
The B61s deployed in Europe are part of the US’s nuclear arsenal that are considered tactical weapons, which have smaller yields than strategic ones. The US has an estimated 200 tactical nuclear weapons, while Russia is said to have about 2,000. US tactical nuclear weapons range from between 0.3 and 170 kilotons (the bomb dropped on Hiroshima had a yield of 15 kilotons).
The plans to deploy the B61-12s to Europe by December have puzzled experts as the accelerated timeline does little but raises tensions with Russia. The Pentagon insists its B61-12 plans have nothing to do with the current situation and denies the characterization of the Politico report.
“Modernization of US B61 nuclear weapons has been underway for years, and plans to safely and responsibly swap out older weapons for the upgraded B61-12 versions are part of a long-planned and scheduled modernization effort,” a Pentagon spokesman said, according to Reuters. “It is in no way linked to current events in Ukraine and was not sped up in any way.”
Another part of the B61-12 upgrade is that it will allow the bomb to be carried by all US and allied bombers and fighter jets. The revelation of the planned deployment came as NATO was holding its nuclear Steadfast Noon exercises, which are due to conclude on Sunday. The drills were hosted by Belgium and involved 14 NATO members and about 60 aircraft that simulated dropping nuclear bombs.
3 thoughts on “Entire US air force goes dark”
This isn’t true, since I’m seeing 4 C-17s and a P-8 flying near McChord on Flightradar24 as of 2115 PST on 10/31.
Maybe trying out a plan, in the event of just such a future event
practice run?