Friday, September 25, 2015

Pentagon Acknowledges Upgrading Nuclear Weapons Overseas

The U.S. Defense Department acknowledged it’s upgrading nuclear weapons stored abroad, but — in keeping with standard practice — didn’t specify where.

“We are proceeding with full-scope nuclear weapon life extension programs to ensure reliability and enhance surety, safety, security, and use control, including for those weapons that are forward deployed,” Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, said on Wednesday during a briefing with reporters.

Davis wouldn’t confirm whether the work is taking place Incirlik Air Base in Turkey near the Syrian border. “We neither confirm nor deny their presence at any specific location,” he said.

His comments came after Maria Zakharova, the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, told German’s ZDF television that the U.S. was modernizing B61 nuclear bombs stored “not just in Germany, but also in Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, and Turkey.”

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