To : Abolitionists all over

From: Bruce Hall at Greenpeace

Date: March 6, 1997

re : More Penetrating developments

Dear folks -

Two bits of recent information about lab and Pentagon efforts

to field an earth-penetrating capability for use against potential

deeply buried targets. The B61-11 is a recently modified nuclear

bomb being introduced into the US nuclear arsenal. It can be

adjusted to a variety of yields - from a low of 300 tons to upwards

of 300 kilotons.

Enjoy,

Bruce

Sandia National Laboratory

The B61-11 was authorized in August 1995 with a requested

delivery date of December 31,1996. The B61-11 is a mechanical

field modification to the B61-7. The B61-11 will be an earth-

penetrating weapon that will replace the aging B53 bomb. The B61-

11 may be delivered by a variety of aircraft including the B-2A,

F16, and the B-1B. The retrofit will consist of repackaging the

Los Alamos physics package and Sandia's arming fuzing, and firing

(AF&F) electronics into a new one-piece steel earth-penetrating

center-case designed by Sandia. We have conducted 13 full-scale

drop tests this year...(I believe they are referring to 96...the

article's date is missing - Bruce)... three in Alaska and 10 at the

Tonopah Test Range, in support of the development program. Sandia

has also designed and is fabricating for the Air Force ten trainers

and nine sets of handling gear. The program is on schedule and

B61-7 to B61-11 retrofit kits were to be delivered to the Air Force

in December 1996. Retrofits were scheduled to begin in January

1997.

----------------------------

The Kansas City plant continues to do the fabrication work for

the B61-11 until at least 1999 - Bruce

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

JANE'S DEFENSE WEEKLY

March 5, 1997

USA WILL STUDY GROWING UNDERGROUND THREATS

By Barbara Starr

Washington, DC

The threat posed by a growing number of underground facilities

in nations unfriendly to the USA will be the subject of a report

commissioned by the Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition and

Technology, Paul Kaminski.

The Defense Science Board (DSB) will report on the military

and security threat posed by such underground facilities as command

and control bunkers, ballistic missile sites and production and

storage facilities for weapons of mass destruction.

Kaminski referred particularly to two sites: the underground

chemical weapons facility at Tarhunah in Libya, and "a huge

underground facility in Russia whose purpose is undetermined."

Ordering the study, Kamininski said that underground

facilities can "appear in a number of forms."

This includes tunneling in mountains, "cut and cover"

construction, hardened buildings above ground or basement

facilities under urban civilian buildings.

The DSB was asked to look at three areas:

* The ability to find the facility. Kaminski said that

facilities in remote areas are "not well covered by National

sensors," and "we generally have little human intelligence [HUMINT]

from such areas." The DSB was asked to examine potential

collection and analysis techniques for timely detection and

location of facilities.

* An examination of observation and assessment methods to

determine the vulnerabilities of underground sites, including

understanding site functions, connections and access to the outside

and the interior structure. "This is a technically daunting task

unless we have HUMINT sources or we have observed the construction

of cut and cover," Kaminski said.

"A remaining option, however, is to neutralise the functioning

of the facility by attacking its external connections to the

outside world...[that is] destroy its entrances, power, air supply

and communications for a period of time," he said. The DSB is to

assess military strike tactics and tools.

The DSB report is due by year-end, with an interim report due

mid-year to provide guidance for the future budget.

===================================================================