A fighter that is in all the bases around Iran was equipped with a nuclear bomb

With the possibility of World War III, the United States has equipped the F-35 fighter with nuclear bombs. At the same time, the unique F35 fighter is also present in the bases around Iran.

In the early days of the Russia-Ukraine war, few expected the problem to become so widespread. After three years, parts of Ukraine are still occupied by Russia. On the one hand, the Russians do not intend to compromise their positions, and on the other hand, the Western countries have announced that they will not allow Russia to win.

The American F-35 fighter is equipped with a nuclear bomb

Recently, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced in an interview that the country's forces are fully prepared for a nuclear war. He also announced the US plan to modernize its nuclear weapons. Interestingly, shortly after this interview, the news that the A model of the fifth generation fighter F-35 will be equipped with a nuclear bomb will be published.

Unlike the F-22 fighter, the US has sold the F-35 to a large number of its allies, including NATO countries. In fact, Lockheed Martin has managed to produce more than 1000 of this stealth fighter so far. Meanwhile, Russia has only 22 fighter planes of the fifth generation Sukhoi 57 as a competitor to the F35. This also causes NATO forces to benefit from air superiority to some extent.

But apparently, Russia's nuclear threat has caused America to feel the need for a nuclear bomb to equip the F-35. Last year, the F35A fighters of the Dutch Air Force were able to receive initial approval to carry nuclear bombs. Now, the official confirmation of carrying the B61-12 hydrogen bomb has been issued for the best fighter in the world.

Military experts believe that this event can prevent the start of a nuclear war by Russia. Especially since this plane can defend itself past the defense lines of the Russian airspace and until it reaches its target. Russia has never faced such a problem before. Of course, the F-117 fighter could also carry out nuclear attacks. But such work was not the primary goal of this fighter. Also, the US kept the F-117 as a secret weapon almost until the end of the Cold War.

b61-12 nuclear bomb (red color) in the internal compartment of the F-35

The advanced capabilities of the F-35 in air combat and the existence of a nuclear bomb will cause Moscow to rethink its defense strategies. Of course, the new capability of the F35A is not only used in Russia, but it can also be used in the Korean Peninsula and the Pacific region. Despite this, the tensions on the Ukrainian front are moving towards an all-out war more than anywhere else.

A spokesman for the F35 joint program emphasized that they had expected the approval to be ready a little later; But apparently the plans have moved ahead for some reason. The F-35 fighter model A is the only fifth-generation military aircraft in the world that can use nuclear bombs. Since the early 1990s, no fighter or bomber had been developed for such a purpose.

Map of current and former b-61 nuclear bomb hosts – countries with the necessary infrastructure are in gray and red are countries with the b-61 bomb.

The approval of the F35 to carry nuclear weapons is the result of a ten-year effort by a team of 16 different countries. Most importantly, the F-35A does not need a Block 4 upgrade to carry a nuclear bomb. The importance of the issue comes from the fact that we have seen repeated delays in the Block 4 update and Lockheed Martin has encountered problems in this area.

The US Air Force also announced that it wants to equip all its F-35 fighters with the ability to carry nuclear bombs in the future. Of course, not all pilots of this fighter are supposed to be trained to perform such a mission. In fact, certain squadrons will have the necessary qualifications and infrastructure to carry out nuclear operations, and the bombs will also be available to these units.

The b61-12 nuclear bomb being transferred to the B2A-Spirit bomber

One of the units with access to a nuclear bomb will be the 48th Wing (each wing includes 3 air battalions) of the US Air Force. The F-35 fighters of this unit are located at the Lakenheath base in England. The last time was in 2008 when America transferred its tactical atomic bombs from England. Although apparently new threats have caused this country to reconsider its military strategies.

Unfortunately, due to security issues, not many details about the B61-12 hydrogen bombs have been published. In 2023, a report was published by the American Federation of Scientists, which stated that there are about 100 relatively old B61-3 and B61-4 atomic bombs in Europe. These bombs can be used by the US Air Force and other NATO forces. However, no details have been released regarding the number of new nuclear bombs of the F-35 fighter.

It seems that the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Italy will receive new versions of the F-35 in the near future. It is even said that the German authorities chose the F-35 as their new fighter only because of its ability to carry a nuclear bomb. Finally, it is worth noting that the b61-12 bomb weighs about 825 pounds and uses intelligent guidance systems. The explosive power of this bomb reaches 50 kilotons, which is 3.3 times the bomb used in Hiroshima.

Read more: A look at the various models of the F-35 fighter, the undisputed king of the sky Comparison of 2 fighters, F22 Raptor and F35 Lightning; Undisputed kings of air battles Comparison of Türkiye's fifth generation fighter and American F-22 Is Putin going to push the nuclear war button?