ISLAMABAD – NATO allies are holding secret military exercises in Germany,which aim to drill a nuclear war scenario, the German newspaper KronenZeitung reports link.
During the drills, codenamed “Steadfast Noon”, the military personnelutilise warplanes which could be equipped with nuclear weapons in the eventof a war.[image: A Luftwaffe (German Air Force), Panavia Tornado IDS aircraft]
The Luftwaffe is represented in the drills by Tornado fighter jets from the33rd Tactical Squadron; it is stationed at Buchel Air Base where theUS-made B61 nuclear bombs are currently stored.
In case of an emergency, the B61 warheads will be installed on theTornadoes as part of Germany’s “nuclear participation” in a NATO mission tocounter an adversary, according to Kronen Zeitung.
Collapse of INF Treaty
The newspaper claims that “the danger of a nuclear war scenario iscurrently much higher than in the past three decades” due to the collapseof the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treatylinkbetweenthe US and Russia this summer.
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The two countries have repeatedly accused each other of violating the ColdWar Era treaty, and after announcing in February 2019 that it would suspendits participation in the arms control treaty, the US formally withdrew fromthe accord on 2 August.
Russia says allegations that it violated the INF Treaty are unsubstantiatedand accuses the US of violating the treaty by deploying defence systems inEurope with launchers capable of firing cruise missiles at rangesprohibited under the agreement.
Signed in 1987, the INF Treaty required the two countries to eliminate andpermanently refrain from the development of ground-launched ballistic andcruise missiles with ranges of 500 to 5,500 kilometres (310 to 3,417 miles).
