B61 in Weapons Storage and Security System

B61 nuclear bomb - inert training version

Weapons Storage and Security System (WS3) is a system including electronic controls and vaults built into the floors of Protective Aircraft Shelters (PAS) on several

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s all over the world. These vaults are used for safe special weapons storage, typically of tactical

B61 nuclear bomb The B61 nuclear bomb is the primary thermonuclear weapon, thermonuclear gravity bomb in the United States Enduring Stockpile following the end of the Cold War. It is a low-to-intermediate yield strategic nuclear weapon, strategic and tactical nuc ...

s. Historically the system was also called within NATO the Weapon Security and Survivability System (WS3) or Weapons Survivability and Security System.

History

During the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

in Europe, US and NATO bases used by the

Quick Reaction Alert Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) is state of Combat readiness, readiness and ''modus operandi'' of Anti-aircraft warfare, air defence maintained at all hours of the day by NATO air forces. The United States usually refers to Quick Reaction Alert as 'Ai ...

readiness forces stored their nuclear bombs in heavily secured weapon storage areas located on or in the vicinity of the base. The process of transferring and mounting the weapons to the aircraft took several hours and required a large coordinated team of security, transportation and engineer personnel; when the alert or exercise was called off, it took an equal amount of time and trouble to return the weapons to the bunkers. The standard system had functioned since the late 1940s, but was unsatisfactory for overseas duty in multiple regards: primarily, it required the weapons be kept mounted on the body of the alert aircraft to ensure they could take off quickly enough when called (despite aircraft not being designed to safely or securely store nuclear weapons). Secondarily, it also posed an OPSEC risk, as any large amount of activity around the weapons bunkers during a time of crisis would be quickly spotted by the Soviets and interpreted as a prelude to nuclear attack. Lastly, there was a serious risk that wartime damage to airbases from a first strike using nuclear

airburst An air burst or airburst is the detonation of an explosive device such as an anti-personnel artillery shell or a nuclear weapon in the air instead of on contact with the ground or target. The principal military advantage of an air burst over ...

or persistent chemical weapons attack would deny access to the bunkers for many weeks without actually destroying them, thus creating a much-feared "soft kill" scenario in which most of NATO's theater-based nuclear assets could be rapidly neutralized by a much smaller number of Soviet "soft"

area denial An area denial weapon is a war offensive and Defensive fighting position, defensive and device used to prevent an adversary from occupying or traversing an area of land, sea or air. The specific method may not be totally effective in preventing ...

strikes. In a projected multi-day war, this was feared to be a decisive handicap. Deployment of the WS3 system was authorized in 1988, and they were in widespread use by 1995.

Specifications

The WS3 system consists of a Weapons Storage Vault (WSV) and electronic monitoring and control systems built into the concrete floor of a specially-secured Hardened Aircraft Shelter. One vault can hold up to four

nuclear weapon A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission or atomic bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear weapon), producing a nuclear exp ...

s and in the lowered position provides ballistic protection through its hardened lid and reinforced sidewalls. The WS3 system allows storage directly underneath the aircraft intended to carry the bombs, eliminating the need to both store the weapons on the aircraft or to wait for them to be transferred from external bunkers. Very few personnel are needed to operate the unit, and the loading process can be completed in minutes with just a few

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s and no vehicles needed. The electronic systems include various classified sensors, along with electronic data-transmission and security equipment such as video, motion detectors, closed circuit TV and thermal imaging devices, thus making the WS3 shelters more secure against

sabotage Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening a polity, government, effort, or organization through subversion, obstruction, demoralization (warfare), demoralization, destabilization, divide and rule, division, social disruption, disrupti ...

and infiltration compared to existing igloo-style bunkers.

Deployment

215 WS3 vaults were built for the

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at 13 sites in seven countries. Additionally 34 WS3 vaults were built for the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

to store the WE.177 nuclear bomb; 10 at RAF Brüggen in Germany and 24 at

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in Britain.

Sources

*Bechtel National Inc. (USA), Main contractor for the construction program *Mannesmann Anlagenbau, Düsseldorf, Germany subcontractor mechanical system parts.

References

External links

* *{{Citation , title=U.S. Nuclear Weapons in Europe , url=http://www.nrdc.org/nuclear/euro/euro.pdf , author=Hans M. Kristensen , date=February 2005 , publisher=

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, accessdate=2006-05-23
Nuclear Information: US nuclear weapons in Europe

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