US Sends 'Nuke Sniffer' Toward Russia After Nuclear Warning Issued

Newsweek

a day ago

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A U.S. plane designed to track nuclear testing in the atmosphere flew close to Russia's nuclear bases in the northwest of the country on Tuesday, flight data showed.
A U.S. Air Force WC-135R aircraft took off from RAF Mildenhall, a major U.K. base in the east of England, before traveling north along the coast west of Norway, according to the flight-tracking platform Flightradar24.
The aircraft, identified by the call sign COBRA29, then circled around the Barents Sea, north of Murmansk and west of the Russian Arctic archipelago of Novaya Zemlya, before returning to the U.K. almost 14 hours later.
Newsweek has contacted the Russian Defense Ministry for comment via email.
Why It Matters
Russia's northwestern Murmansk region borders NATO members Norway and Finland, and it is home to several naval and strategic air bases, including those serving Moscow's formidable Northern Fleet. The Northern Fleet plays a significant role in Russia's nuclear arsenal.
Recently, Russian officials have said Moscow "no longer sees itself as limited" by restrictions previously placed on both nuclear and conventional intermediate-range and short-range missiles.
A U.S. Air Force WC-135 Constant Phoenix aircraft, designed to collect air samples from areas around the world where nuclear explosions have occurred, operates in an undisclosed location in this photograph taken on July 12,...
A U.S. Air Force WC-135 Constant Phoenix aircraft, designed to collect air samples from areas around the world where nuclear explosions have occurred, operates in an undisclosed location in this photograph taken on July 12, 2011. More
U.S. Air Force
What To Know
The WC-135R is a modified aircraft that collects data from the atmosphere, with the explicit purpose of supporting a 1963 nuclear treaty. The agreement between the U.S., the Soviet Union and the U.K. banned nuclear testing in the atmosphere.
Also known as Constant Phoenix, the plane is occasionally dubbed a "nuke sniffer." The aircraft can "detect radioactive 'clouds' in real time," according to the Air Force.
The U.S. and the U.K. have sent surveillance aircraft on multiple flights up close to Murmansk in recent weeks.
Analysts tracking the flight online said it could indicate that Russia may soon carry out tests of its 9M730 Burevestnik nuclear-powered cruise missile at a launch site on Novaya Zemlya. The remote archipelago has a long history of nuclear testing.
In NATO parlance, the Burevestnik is known as the SSC-X-9 Skyfall. Russia has hailed the weapon, which is nuclear-powered and can carry nuclear warheads, as able to dodge Western air defenses and travel close to unlimited distances.
Decker Eveleth, an analyst with the CNA think tank who has written extensively on the Burevestnik, reshared on social media a screenshot of the WC-135R's flight, saying it could be linked to a "possible Burevestnik test."
The test site at Pankovo—on Novaya Zemlya—was "active," Eveleth said.
Strategic Standoff
The majority of nuclear tests over the decades have been carried out underground, according to the Arms Control Association, a nonprofit in the U.S. The 1963 Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty brought an end to most atmospheric testing, which was widespread in the early days of nuclear weapons development, according to the association.
A total 528 early nuclear weapons tests involved detonations in the atmosphere that spread radioactive material, the Arms Control Association said. Moscow last carried out a nuclear test in late 1990.
Russia's government has said repeatedly this month that it will not be bound by now-defunct limits on U.S. and Russian short-range and intermediate-range ballistic and cruise missiles, capable of carrying nuclear weapons.
In 1987, U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev signed an agreement known as the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, which banned missiles with ranges between 500 and 5,500 kilometers, about 310 and 3,400 miles.
The U.S. formally pulled out of the INF Treaty in mid-2019, during Trump's first term in office. Washington had accused Moscow of breaching the terms of the agreement by developing the SSC-8, also known as the 9M729 ground-launched cruise missile.
NATO also accused Russia of violating the treaty, which Moscow denied. Both sides had suspended participation months earlier. Russia then said it would not deploy missiles banned under this treaty "until U.S.-manufactured missiles of similar classes" were rolled out, known as the INF moratorium.
Both Russia and the U.S. have now deployed weapons that would have been banned under the INF Treaty if it were still in effect.
In recent weeks, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, a hawkish figure now on Russia's security council, has become embroiled in a social media war of words with U.S. President Donald Trump. On Friday, Trump said he would redeploy two U.S. nuclear submarines after "highly provocative statements" by Medvedev, who had alluded to Russia's "dead hand" mechanism, which is designed to launch nuclear weapons even if Russia's most senior commanders are taken out by an enemy attack.
The Kremlin distanced itself from the remarks, cautioning, "Everyone should be very careful about nuclear rhetoric."