Yes that's right. Under NATO agreements, and contrary to Turkey's OWN statement that its nuclear mission in NATO terminated in 2001. The US gave possession of 60 B61-12 thermonuclear bombs to Turkey because, get this.....Turkey refuses the US permission to base the aircraft they are designed for, in Turkey.
From news article:The United States currently has 70 type B61-12 tactical nuclear bombs at its airbase in Incirlik in the southern province of Adana, according to daily Vatan.
Vatan acquired the information from a report by Robert S. Norris and Hans M. Kristensen that was published on the “Atomic Scientists Bulletin” website, revealing an inventory of the nuclear weapons the US military keeps in Turkey.
Number of warheads decreased from 90 in 2001.
Between 10 and 20 of the 70 nuclear warheads at Incirlik were designed to be delivered to their targets by Turkish warplanes, according to the report.
The 142nd fighter/bomber squadron of the Turkish Air Forces, nicknamed the “Gazelles,” was assigned the task of delivering the nuclear ordnances. The squadron consists of F-16A/B warplanes.
The US military needed a certain warplane type that is different than those stationed at the Incirlik airbase in order to deliver the remaining 50 warheads, the report by Norris and Kristensen said.
The Turkish state, however, has declined to allow the US military to deploy the said aircraft at Incirlik.
More information on the B61 LEP program from 2008:
http://scisec.net/?p=62
In the arcana of this piece in an indication that the B61-12 is actually a new weapon type designed as a nuclear 'bunker buster'.
See also:
http://lewis.armscontrolwonk.com/arc...b61-mod-12-lep
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