Weapons were withdrawn from europe and today top secret bases in Storage Facilities lie abandoned. These bunkers in a former american missile base in germany once housed Cruise Missiles this site now hosts a popular open air electronic Music Festival. The danger of Nuclear Conflict appears to have passed. But now new Nuclear Weapons destined for europe are being tested in the u. S. Nuclear war is more likely now was at the height of the current. Nuclear problem has not gone away its that strange to become something new and different some analysts call this the Second Nuclear age. We need to do this was all were facing the. Most dangerous military and especially Nuclear Security situation in europe today since the collapse of the soviet union in the desert we had to. Escape woman tartly there is talk of both the german and of a European Nuclear weapon if you ask me a german bomb would be dangerous nonsense but we may find ourselves discussing a european one in the next few years usually that. This is the village of michel in western germany nearby is a German Air Force base where some twenty b. Sixty one American Nuclear bombs are said to be stored as part of a nato weapons sharing arrangement. Nuclear weapons expert tons christensen works for the federation of american scientists and the Stockholm InternationalPeace Research institute c three. Christensen is convinced the devices are stored here devices that could be deployed against enemy forces. There are still tactical Nuclear Weapons yes. Only gravity box delivered by fighter jet aircraft they are the last remnant of a what used to be an enormous inventory of about seven thousand tactical Nuclear Weapons but theyre still here in about one hundred fifty of them but only that one time or to the revenue loss. If a conflict arose these weapons could also be delivered by German Air Force planes. Merican have bases in europe but there are also four countries in europe that have host base arrangement us like call it call it a nuclear sharing arrangements. Germany the netherlands belgium italy and possibly turkey so those countries are the ones who sort of serve a soto Nuclear Strike role where their aircraft would be equipped and handed over Nuclear Weapons in times of war. Until just a few years ago all Political Parties in the german one is talking head been calling for the Nuclear Weapons to be removed. These nato fighter jets are on patrol over the Baltic States their mission is to intercept any Russian Military aircraft that approach nato airspace without warning. A number of participants at the annual Munich Security Conference are concerned about growing tensions between east and west. The conference chairman is professor wolfgang ischinger. India and fia yons i didnt. Since the ukraine crisis that is since twenty fourteen sixteen weve seen a massive increase in but say incidents. Four and fortunately these of not lead to a real confrontation so far. For the for these incidents have taken place over the north sea the baltic sea and the blacks if they were involved western and russian more ships and really terrier cross it is sleeping on the research and military grade and. Reserve aircraft over the north sea were filmed by the British Royal air force. More and more nato aircraft are taking part in interception Missions Including going to spare planes germany is making a substantial contribution to nato as program to help protect the Baltic States. But such busy skies are not without risk of a. Fool by snows imagine what would happen if for example a russian. Military aircraft crossed the border neither by accident or deliberately and was shot down by western or American Forces like. Theres a big danger such an incident could lead to an escalation that quickly spirals out of control. So the tensions present here in europe today are a major cause for concern. Good to. See but then cliff. These u. S. B. Fifty two bombers are preparing to take part in a Training Exercise in the Baltic States. Many see this deployment as a message to russia. And it isnt the only message. Weve seen and types of exercises that we havent seen since the cold war where american be fifty two bombers to fly up over the north pole to the launch point for Nuclear Cruise missiles and then return to their bases in the United States those kind of strike exercises were not done since the i mean one hundred eighty s. It seems as though weve returned to the old game of cat and mouse that was common during the cold war. This situation reminds us trillion antinuclear activist and author Helen Caldicott of a time when the u. S. And the soviet union stood on the brink of nuclear confrontation. Well i got Robert Mcnamara quite well whos sixty of france and was in the oval office with jack kennedy during the cuban missile crisis he said to me helen you dont know how close we came to within three minutes quote unquote. I think the situation could well be compatible with that. Decisions to launch a Nuclear Strike need to be made quickly and then there are the crews who would actually launch the missiles caldicott has heard some alarming reports. The man and the missile silos in america they could as i have minutes to decide their aged eighteen to twenty six like pavlovian dogs just so nervous or press the button. There with the pistol one shoot if one shows signs of deviant behavior but the deviant one much the other one recently its been determined that many of those men taking l. S. D. Not in their missile silos but beforehand and having wild stock a lunch break spirits is annoying at that taking marijuana cocaine and the like. Caldicott thinks a Nuclear Strike could be launched by mistake. Here both garnishing i meets dimitri training a former senior soviet army officer who took part in disarmament negotiations with the us. Both experts are concerned a new cold war may be in the works. Conflict may arise out of a military collision and places like syria and all the way to the Nuclear Level thats in some scenarios and could. This election of donald trump further complicated the situation the president has sharply criticized nato and even threaten to pull the u. S. Out of the alliance. Shortly after trump was elected Security Policy experts in germany began reviewing the possible consequences of the us defense umbrella becoming less reliable. Some have said that if washington is no longer willing to defend europe then perhaps germany should develop its own Nuclear Weapons. Its happening i was surprised when that debate came up in germany because here Nuclear Options have been strictly taboo and taboo is it. Back in the one nine hundred eighty s. Millions of germans took to the streets to protest nato preparations for deploying new Nuclear Missiles in europe to counter a soviet threat. Christiane hucker is a Prominent German political scientist. He has written an essay arguing that the country should lift a nuclear temper. It needs to be made clear that germany as a Nuclear Power would help strengthen the free western world it would support makes one liberal democracies and we need to explain that this would not be directed against any other states it would be purely defensive a deterrent that would enhance our security which is essential. Its not just about war and peace its also about protecting our country from blackmail in crisis situations like these. Nuclear weapons really provide more security for germany so far the government is not debating this question. But has ideas and how would you im a Nuclear Deterrent might function. We could develop Medium Range Missiles that have Nuclear Warheads that would provide low level to terence at a relatively low cost. Another option would be to use Nuclear Capable aircraft. The third option would be to use conventional submarines equipped with Nuclear Weapons. Could convince you know who boarded with nuclear. And as well if germany were to build such weapons it would create huge Security Problems in europe. The russians would feel seriously threatened not least because of their experience in World War Two we must see if that all it does make gun safety so id really like to emphasize that a German Nuclear option would not be directed against russia it would be part of an all round defensive strategy theyre going to be enough and additional. A german Nuclear Weapons program would cost taxpayers several billion euros per year. And it would create legal problems. Germany renounced the development of Nuclear Weapons as part of the one nine hundred ninety four power treaty that led to unification. As they have for schools it would be a violation of our obligations and if germany were to have its finger on a nuclear trigger. That would be completely gone except about us you need it no one would trust germany with a bomb anyway with germanys history. But what about the future of the Us Nuclear Program this is the facility in the nevada desert at which the pentagon develops and tests weapons. Right now experts are working on the b. Sixty one mod twelve the latest version of a tactical and Strategic Nuclear weapon. Its an expensive project. The budget for twenty nine thousand alone is estimated to be about two hundred fifty four million dollars. The sixty one can be deployed with a number of military aircraft including german tornado fighter bombers adaptation of those aircraft was scheduled for twenty nineteen ph two hundred integration refers to the tranny though a two hundred. And about five eight years there will be a new type of weapon more advanced thats going to be coming back to germany and be deployed here google. But aircraft have to be configured for that type of aircraft for the for that. Weapon its called a b sixty one twelve. The tornado is right now undergoing flight test in the United States to be able to deliver this with. German tornadoes on a u. S. Facility but German Military aircraft being outfitted with new u. S. Nuclear weapons could have far reaching consequences. Maxwell downman works for the london based think tank basic which supports Nuclear Disarmament he warns of possible dangers the last place russian missiles would go would be the b. Sixty one sites. There are also many hurdles for these things getting off the ground you would need to let the planes with the bombs because the bombs the planes in the bombs on together these would need to take off then this is all presuming that russian missiles are coming and then once theyre flying you need to refuel them in and and then you would need to fly them into russian aspace pla passed russian Ballistic Missile defense before dropping freefall bombs compared the hounds to firing a missile there is huge risks with these things and they really simply would never get off the ground. And some experts say that the aircraft could be easily targeted while they are refueling. So why would germanys air force want to use Nuclear Weapons at all. Those highs. On the one hand we have to make an appropriate conventional contribution so that we can continue to have an influence on policy. But we must also be prepared to bear the burden and it is a burden of having Nuclear Weapons stationed on our territory or if necessary delivered by our aircraft. Is. But its extremely important to understand the situation as part of our overall Nuclear Strategy. And our ability to help shape policy within the Nato Alliance this is until sydney. In short germany can continue to have a say in nato as Nuclear Strategy only if its prepared to use these weapons. This also applies to Nuclear WeaponsModernization Programs there are several nato Member States that say existing stocks of weapons are outdated need to be replaced. Christensen points out this process is already underway. As far as we can figure out the increased accuracy is about three times better than than it is with the existing weapons now what that means is that not only can you strike targets facilities much more effectively but you can also choose lower explosive yield settings for an attack that today requires a much higher yield sitting so thats more useable its less radioactive fallout so its a concern that were making Nuclear Weapons more useable damage is a sign of off that this weapon can be employed in ways its predecessor could not be. And russia will see that and say fine if the west is doing this then we also want to modernize and improve our weapons thats a steal or one that could create a new arms race which in turn could lead to a new cold war. Several experts think this is now a distinct possibility. U. S. President donald trump announced his plans regarding Nuclear Policy at his twenty eighteen state of the Union Address as part of our defense we must modernize and rebuild our Nuclear Arsenal hopefully never having two years it but making it so strong and so powerful that it. Will deter any acts of aggression by any other nation or anyone else. Has made clear that the us reserves the right to launch a Deterrent Nuclear first strike. While the United States is in the early phase of a complete overhaul of its Nuclear Arsenal and were talking about everything were talking about all Delivery Systems all warheads Nuclear Infrastructure of the factories Nuclear Command and control system so its the shoot to taking. In fact its one of the largest projects of its kind. A report compiled by the Congressional Budget Office puts the total cost at one point two trillion dollars as a twenty seventeen. But it seems likely that the pentagons weapons Modernization Program will be even more expensive than that. By comparison in twenty germany spent just over thirty eight billion euros on defense. The u. S. Plans to modernize Nuclear Attack submarines command and control centers for land based Nuclear Missiles and Nuclear Capable aircraft and Cruise Missiles why is the us spending all this money. This is the Lawrence LivermoreNational Laboratory in california. Dr brad roberts is director of the Laboratory Center for Global Security research. Was also a Deputy Assistant secretary of defense in the obama administration. He explains why the pentagon wants to upgrade its weapons so the alternative to modernization is unilateral disarmament. We have postponed. Any decision because there are costly and politically very divisive weve postponed any decision about the modernization of our Nuclear Forces for decades the newest u. S. Nuclear weapon in the arsenal. There is no weapon that was designed intended to have a shelf life of more than twenty or twenty five years. The u. S. Is not only developing new kinds of Nuclear Weapons its also devising new strategies in which those weapons might be used. To some that is a frightening proposition. So is war again think of all it was not thinkable in the one nine hundred sixty seventys and eightys when the one nuclear war became the problem of armageddon the problem of the end of human history. And its possible the today we have one or two or three actors who believe that a nuclear war can be won. Because it can be kept limited because we will back down when they employ Nuclear Weapons on a limited basis and if they believe it can be kept when needed and can be won then it can be fought. But high yield Nuclear Weapons are not appropriate for those limited sorts of conflicts. So the us is designing a range of less powerful short range weapons. These are also part of the Modernization Program. In part the answer is yes we do need some new weapons some of the targets we might want to hit in this kind of environment can be destroyed with small Nuclear Weapons that would minimize damage to other things what we call Collateral Damage we could significantly reduce. Nato has deployed these kinds of weapons before until nine hundred ninety two Nuclear Artillery shells were stored at this facility in boresight in central germany. These former bundeswehr officers were stationed at the storage site. There to pick mine was commander of a guard unit i mean kind of no germans were allowed inside that was strictly forbidden and we really didnt know what was going on in there it truly was top secret your job i guess was to be ready if the soviet army would come across the hill right it was about Nuclear Battle in europe just how. We explain to our troops again and again that germany was the enemies target if war were to break out germany would be annihilated. So the better prepared we were to defend ourselves the greater the chance that we never have to use those weapons on the saddam and the pool thats called deterrence and it worked. Any soldier can understand that concept. And thats how we explained it to them if you know if. Thats the biggest and then there is even though i got up. Until the one nine hundred ninety s. There were one hundred twenty similar storage sites throughout germany and the artillery shells were intended to stop soviet tank forces. The shells had a range of twenty to thirty kilometers so they would have been fired only on german soil this footage shows one such a Small Nuclear explosion. There were nuclear antiaircraft missiles and even nuclear mines. There were all sorts of crazy weapons during the cold war period if you look back at that today youd think the world a gone insane because those weapons represented absolute self destruction. That there were Nuclear Landmines on the border between east and west germany and the nike hercules air Defense Missile system equipped with Nuclear Warheads nuclear. And. If nato Nuclear Artillery had been used against soviet tank units it would almost certainly have caused serious damage to the surrounding german countryside. But times changed and nato commanders eventually decided to revise their strategy. They have largely moved away from tactical Nuclear Weapons and the reason they moved the ways because the military didnt need them to solve their military. Objectives they could use at vance conventional weapons for this instead so now were hearing recommendations that the us needs to enter reintroduce tactical or tactical like Nuclear Weapons with low yield. This museum in the town of damon in the state of mecklenburg for pullman is dedicated to troops of the east german rocket forces. Christensen stops by to inspect some of the equipment. And hes given details about how the missiles were deployed that even he didnt know. The museum was set up by former members of the fifth rocket brigade. Theyve restored some of the old cold war era transport vehicles which looked like trucks and he had the short range Ballistic Missiles perfectly. Christensen points out that today technical that is short range weapons are still a key component of russias Nuclear Arsenal. Its very much a difference in tactics the point is that the Russian Military relies more on tactical Nuclear Weapons because they are a conventional force was considered far less capable so russia has a conventional inferiority if you will and so they use new tactical Nuclear Weapons to compensate for that so we see in the russian navy a large use of tactical Nuclear Weapons for and size ship Cruise Missiles torpedoes depth charges you name it. The us military has completely phased out those types of weapons it doesnt need them anymore because it has better conventional forces. Some experts say that the fact that russia is economically weaker than the u. S. Is part of why moscow continues to rely on tactical Nuclear Weapons so has the risk of a limited Nuclear Conflict in europe increased. We have. Many many statements from Russian Military and political leaders that they are prepared to employ Nuclear Weapons on a limited basis in a war against nato is war between russia and nato why clee i dont think so is it completely out of the question i wish that it were but its not. So how likely the risk of women to nuclear war is today is very difficult to calibrate relative to the peaceful period we lived in on the one nine hundred ninety s. Im a decade afterwards its hard. Nato is actively preparing to deal with the threat of a low yield Nuclear Attack we asked professor issuing what he thinks of tactical Nuclear Weapons. And so i decided not much because theyre nothing more than a rehash of proposals put forward during the cold war. At that time there was also talk about miniaturized Nuclear Weapons. And portable Nuclear Weapons which a soldier could carry half a kilometer across the border good set up and then detonated by remote control. Good. Fences exploded then all these things could do more to promote tend to escalate conflicts then to prevent them. For he. Has repeatedly expressed its concern about moscows recent deployment of mobile short range Nuclear Capable missiles in the kaliningrad region. A strip of russian territory between poland and lithuania. The missiles range extends almost to berlin. In june twenty eighth nato held a Training Exercise in the Baltic States and poland nineteen nato states and partners including friends took part. From a military standpoint it would be extremely difficult if not impossible to defend the Baltic States against a russian attack involving armored divisions and tens of thousands of troops it is the one. German soldiers also took part in. Nato exercise. Here read units defend themselves against an attack by blue units. The. Strategically better to wait than to fire blindly and give away your position. But its fun to show man finds we engage the enemy infantry and took out quite a few of them from his own i redeployed my men in a stream bed which is a good defensive position in the snow. Right now were waiting for the next enemy attack. Which they are probably preparing right now to find as good of an officer as a doctor in north korean unit. Germany is leading a nato force in lithuania that involves one thousand two hundred troops from ten Member States. The units were sent to strengthen the alliances defenses along europes border with russia. Mines we trained together with the Nato Battle Group and of course with our lithuanian allies. Here just how much territory can you actually defend here. Because. Right now our strip of land about ten kilometers wide. Ten kilometers is not much in the grand scheme of things find the enemy probably a platoon strength attackers driven back. But what is the true purpose of these nato exercises. There are there more to reassure the balts that the threat the russians and if if the current status is maintained i dont think a lot of people in russia will be losing sleep over a few battalions of nato forces in the Baltic States. Fueling i think that many of the predictions about what could happen in the baltics are exaggerated i dont believe lattimer putin is waiting for the opportunity to bring the region back to russia in some sort of glorious battle. Because if he were then honestly the uncertainty donald trump introduced into the western alliance would have been the moment for russia to strike. But they didnt. So i dont think theres any serious danger of war in the Baltic States at the present time a critical flaw in this field is implied to. Be in the one nine hundred seventy s. The soviet union deployed s. S. Twenty intermediate range Nuclear Missiles in european russia these weapons were capable of hitting targets in most of western europe. European politicians demanded a response. And nato proposed stationing Nuclear Capable pershing two and ground launched Cruise Missiles in western europe. The soviet union feared that this deployment could lead to a nato first strike. Millions of people across europe demonstrated against what appeared to be a new round in the arms race. The protests in germany were the largest since the end of World War Two. In the end instead of a strike there was a handshake in october one thousand nine hundred six u. S. President Ronald Reagan and soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev met in reykjavik to sign a treaty that would eliminate all u. S. And soviet land based short range an intermediate range missiles. This was the socalled i. N. F. Treaty. By nine hundred ninety one the two sides had eliminated a total of nearly two thousand seven hundred missiles. Some of the Cruise Missiles that were eliminated under terms of the agreement had been stored at facilities like this in germany. Christensen says the treaty was unprecedented in its scope. It was the first class agreement that simply eradicated an entire class of missiles what was also important was that it had a very strong verification regime with on site inspections both at the sites but all the launch sites but also as you know factories and what have you so so it was a really. New way of doing on control many saw about sort of later as a first step toward elimination of Nuclear Weapons globally. This is nature one an open air electronic Music Festival held every august at the site of a decommissioned u. S. Cruise missile base near the town of cost alone in western germany. But the missiles removed from this base are once again causing tensions over twenty eight thousand President Trump said russia had been cheating on the i. N. F. Treaty. Russia has violated the agreement theyd been violating it for many years and i dont know why president obama didnt negotiate for full out that were not going to let them violate a Nuclear Agreement when they go out and do weapons and were not allowed to were the ones that have stayed in the agreement and we wanted the agreement but russia is not unfortunately on to the agreement so were going to terminate the agreement were going to pull out that. Yeah nothing. President trump statement shocked the world in for every twenty nineteen russia announced it would also suspend the i. M. F. Pact. But even before that washington was concerned that russia had been testing a new ground launch Cruise Missile and a new Ballistic Missile similar to these. Two. Bidens. Was im concerned that on both the american now the russian side the hard liners could prevail. These are people who believe the best course of action is to out arm the other side. And there are military experts in russia who believe that given the overall strategic balance of power russia has no choice but to increase its reliance on Nuclear Weapons. Because of the bargain that of nuclear. States. When does move here was the man that if a conflict develops as if im using Nuclear Weapons early on forced the west to desist and and such a conflict. Which is a very high Risk Strategy in my opinion doesnt mind those least significantly fewer legal. Some experts say that the us decided to suspend its participation in the i. N. F. Treaty so that it could deal with an increasingly aggressive china. I think it has less to do with nato. Frankly speaking i think it has more to do with china because china has a lot of. Intermediate range forces. And russia has a lot of other forces in this part of. Europe that they can use to target anything they want in europe anyway so it doesnt really make militarily sense here. At the same time russia says nato is cheating on the i. N. F. Agreement by deploying Missile Defense systems in romania and poland. U. S. Navy ships outfitted with anti missile interceptors are on duty in the mediterranean sea. Washington says all of these systems are intended to protect against missile attacks from iran. Human head of was this was the russians say that the u. S. Missile Defense Systems in Eastern Europe robbed by relation of the i. N. F. Treaty experts disagree on whether thats true but in any case the treaty is in a pretty sorry state right now in kind them. That well their mutual accusations from the United States and russia about the other side violating the treaty the best way of course would be for both sides to sit down. And discuss here that they expose would need no more than a couple of weeks. To fix the whole thing but in the current political crisis in the current political situation between the United States and russia it looks like all virtually impossible which is which is very sad because we may be losing the treaty within a year. In twenty eighteen the trumpet going to stray should release the latest version of the Nuclear Posture review which outlines the pentagons plans for modernizing americas Nuclear Arsenal as a deterrent to both nuclear and nonnuclear aggression. The plan in part calls for the deployment of new or updated versions of Cruise Missiles to be based on submarines. The u. S. Could deploy the missiles without having to ask its nato allies. And some experts say that this could cause political friction. This past feeded is that whats tricky about the plan is that if the u. S. Were to deploy its own Cruise Missiles on its own submarines it would circumvent getting nato approval and. That is precisely because the u. S. Knows full well that such a one sided move would have set the other nato partners but. The. Looked out for me and it causes or im quite concerned. That u. S. Policy may end up in the hands of those who believe that russian violations of the i. N. F. Treaty suite mean washington they must now also develop new intermediate range Nuclear Weapons these that would be the depth of the agreement if. They hadnt thought so if the i. N. F. Treaty collapses you will have no treaty or system governing medium range Ballistic Missiles and Nuclear Missiles im Cruise Missiles in europe these weapons all specifically a danger and risk to european to your to europeans because the. Range holds european cities and capitals so while this treaty is between the u. S. And russia it really affects europeans. President frequent verbal attacks on nato have raised grave concerns some experts are no longer certain that the Us Nuclear Umbrella is still committed to protecting europe or if america would come first in a crisis. Here a nato delegation is inspecting a French Nuclear submarine. Could Alliance Members strengthen Nuclear Policy cooperation so as to reduce their reliance on the us. Would it be possible for europe to develop its own Nuclear Weapons. And. There is a loophole that might allow for that. The department of justice leaving the hot. In one thousand nine hundred the new west german chancellor simon nonproliferation treaty talks to it all. But he did so with the caveat that a future european Political Alliance might be allowed to consider the development of Nuclear Weapons because. If friends were in that alliance it might be possible at least in theory for germany to become a Nuclear Power. As with as. I dont want to completely rule out the possibility that i differ European Defense union more to beautify elop to along the lines where you proposed. That organization might also have Nuclear Power and thanks largely to French Nuclear capability. Of the francis roof. But recent polls indicate that more than seventy percent of germans are opposed to the development possession deployment and use of Nuclear Weapons. And some experts agree with those sentiments. That would be a massive mistake to try to reintroduce such a weapon in europe because they were truly back in sort of the dynamic of the cold war. I think the cold war made it clear that an increase in Nuclear Weapons does not enhance security but ultimately increases in security on both sides and. Id call it seems nice to the sides dont trust each other. And thats a tremendously dangerous situation to be and considering the destructive power of these thousands and thousands of Weapons Systems those informed insisted. Nuclear weapons are once again making headlines in europe whether its low yield devices or Cruise Missiles on submarines if the hardliners on all sides gain the upper hand it could mean the end of a relatively peaceful period in modern european history. I still dont put your energy costs on the top spot. I am in a Fund Managers are drawn against fiber and drops to second spot on the tape. On monday trade cards going to hand may be the most clogged with two goals in stoppage john. Locke. And thirty minutes on dot com. Israel goes to the polls it could be a close race for many netanyahu israels Prime Minister is still favored in the upcoming election. You say shut up in the end ongoing conflicts have split the voters. Its a political opponents have forged the fullest good news up in ninety minutes on the d w. D t you know that seventy seven percent. Are younger than six of. Us me and you. Dont know what time the voice is one hundred. Seventy seven percent talk about the issues. From politics to fashion from housing boom boom town this is where. Welcome to the seventy seven percent. Starts to six g. W. Cut. Up. The bird. Since parliament has again failed to reach majority for any way forward on braggs that. M. P. s debated for options a motion for a Customs Union with the European Union came closest to success failing by just three votes if no agreement is reached britain will crash out of the e. U. On april twelfth