| ID | 129134 |
| Title Proper | Congress fully funds B61 bomb |
| Language | ENG |
| Author | Collina, Tom Z |
| Publication | 2014. |
| Summary / Abstract (Note) | Striking a compromise on a controversial issue, Congress in January passed legislation to provide $537 million, the full amount the Obama administration had requested, for the program to rebuild the B61 nuclear gravity bomb and require the administration to submit detailed reports on alternatives to this plan. Congress also mandated the eventual retirement of a different gravity bomb, the B83, once the B61 is ready for service. These items were part of an omnibus appropriations bill signed by President Barack Obama on Jan. 17. The new law is a $1.1 trillion conglomeration of 12 appropriations bills that had to be passed to keep the government open for the remainder of the fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30. The legislation includes $7.8 billion for nuclear weapons activities conducted by the Energy Department's semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). One of the key nuclear policy questions left unresolved last year was how much money the NNSA would be allowed to spend to extend the service life of about 400 B61 gravity bombs. About half of the B61s are stored in European NATO countries for use on tactical, or short-range, aircraft; the rest are stored in the United States for use on strategic, or long-range, bombers. |
| `In' analytical Note | Arms Control Today Vol.44, No.2; March 2014: p.38 |
| Journal Source | Arms Control Today Vol.44, No.2; March 2014: p.38 |
| Key Words | Weapons Research & Development ; Scale Back ; B61 Nuclear Bomb ; Urges Nuclear Spending Cuts ; U.S. Nuclear Weapons ; U.S. Nuclear Arms Spending Set to Rise ; Activists Sentenced ; National Nuclear Security Administration - NNSA ; United States - US ; US Congress ; Defence Budget ; Nuclear Policy ; North Atlantic Treaty Organization - NATO ; European Union - EU ; 400 B61 Gravity Bombs ; B61 Bombs ; Tactical Aircraft ; Short-Range Aircraft ; Unmanned Aerial Systems - UASs ; Unmanned Aerial Vehicles - UAVs ; Tactical Weapons ; Lethal Weapons ; Controversial Issue ; Contemporary Nuclear Issue |