Nato plans to upgrade nuclear weapons 'expensive and unnecessary'

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/may/11/nato-nuclear-weapons-upgrade


Nato is preparing to replace 'dumb' free-fall nuclear bombs with precision-guided weapons carried by US F35 strike aircraft. Photograph: -/EPA

Nato's plans to upgrade the US's estimated 180 tactical nuclear weapons in western Europe are unnecessary, expensive and likely to exacerbate already difficult relations with Russia, according to a report.

The alliance is preparing to replace "dumb" free-fall nuclear bombs and ageing delivery aircraft with precision-guided weapons that would be carried by US F35 strike aircraft, according to a report from the European Leadership Network (ELN), a thinktank supported by former UK defence ministers including Lord Des Browne and Sir Malcolm Rifkind.

The report, Escalation by Default?: the Future of Nato Nuclear Weapons In Europe, is by Ted Seay, who until last year was arms control adviser to the US mission at Nato headquarters in Brussels.

The plans to upgrade significantly the US's stockpile of tactical nuclear weapons would increase its ability to reach targets in Russia at a time when Nato and Russia are already locked in a tense standoff over missile defence, warns the report.