Air Force Unit's Nuclear Weapons Security Is 'Unacceptable'

AGM-129 ACM - Advanced Cruise Missile mounted on B-52
One would think the folks at Minot Air Force Base had learned their lesson. One would be wrong.

The same Air Force unit at Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota that was responsible for mishandling six nuclear cruise missiles last August failed key parts of a nuclear safety inspection this past weekend, according to a Defense Department report.

The 5th Bomb Wing was given an "unacceptable" grade in security of nuclear weapons, according to the review by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency. In another category, management and administration, it received a grade of "marginal," based on deficiencies in recording changes that affected the operational status of nuclear cruise missiles and gravity bombs.

Those are two areas where failures last summer allowed a B-52 at Minot to be loaded with six air-launched cruise missiles and flown to Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana without the pilots, air or ground crews knowing they contained nuclear warheads.

Note: Headline links to source.

Feeling secure? Well don't #20

An Australian B-52 dropping dumb bombs
(they look like missiles to me)

This is the whole story as offered by The Seattle Times. It was really too short to excerpt. But there are some other short stories at the link, so you may want to go there.

This mistake is really serious and the procedures need to be "fool proofed".

A B-52 bomber mistakenly loaded with five nuclear warheads flew from Minot Air Force Base, N.D., to Barksdale Air Force Base, La., on Aug. 30, resulting in an Air Force-wide investigation, three officers told the Military Times on condition of anonymity.

The B-52 was loaded with advanced cruise missiles (ACMs), part of a Defense Department effort to decommission 400 ACMs. But the nuclear warheads should have been removed before being transported to Barksdale, the officers said. The missiles were mounted onto the pylons of the bomber's wings.

ACMs carry a warhead with a yield of 5 to 150 kilotons and are designed for delivery by B-52 strategic bombers.

Air Force spokesman Lt. Col. Ed Thomas said the transfer was safely conducted and the weapons were in Air Force custody and control at all times.

Air Force officials wouldn't specify whether nuclear weapons were involved, in accord with policy, Thomas said.

Yes I do realize it was highly unlikely one of the ACMs could have come loose and fallen, but it was a possibility. A human attached them to the pylons.

Via Seattle Times.