The United States plan to deploy nuclear warheads at RAF Lakenheath for the first time in 15 recent years as the potential threat from Russia, Iran and North Korea has increased recently, Pentagon documents say.
The US is said to be planning to move nuclear weapons to the UK for the first time since 2008, amid calls to step up preparations for a potential war between Russia and NATO forces. Russia responded by saying such an act would be seen as an “escalation.”
If this step is ever made, we will view it as escalation, as a step toward escalation that would take things to a direction that is quite opposite to addressing the pressing issue of pulling all nuclear weapons out of European countries, Maria Zakharova, a Russian foreign ministry spokesman, said.
Contracts for a new facility at RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk confirm that the US intends to deploy nuclear warheads at the airbase. Furthermore, the Pentagon has refused to comment on speculation that the base, which is operated by the US Air Force under British rules and laws, is intended to build a new “surety dormitory” to house US tactical nuclear weapons that could be deployed by F-35 fighter jets.
Consequently, RAF Lakenheath is planned to house B61-12 gravity bombs, which could have a yield of up to 50 kilotons, more than three times the yield of the atomic weapons dropped on Hiroshima in 1945.
The US also announced plans to deploy two squadrons of bomb-carrying fifth-generation F-35 fighter jets to the 48th Fighter Wing at RAF Lakenheath and ordered new equipment for the base, including ballistic shields designed to protect troops from attacks on “high value assets.” In addition, construction of a new housing complex for US troops working at the base will begin in June.
President Joe Biden stressed that the US would “enhance our force posture in Europe to respond to the changes in the security environment.”
The US currently has warheads in Belgium, Germany, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands and Turkey under the NATO nuclear sharing agreement.
The return of US nuclear weapons to the UK is now part of a programme to develop and upgrade nuclear facilities nationwide in response to heightened tensions with the Kremlin following the start of the Ukraine-Russia conflict in February 2022, as well as growing challenges from Iran and North Korea.
