The United States nuclear weapons could return to the United Kingdom for the first time in two decades. This has been advanced by the British newspaper The Telegraphwhich reveals that some images published in a report by the Federation of American scientists (FAS) show that 22 nuclear bunkers in the military base of Lakenheath, in Suffolk (England), are being modernized.
According to the report, consulted by the medium the decision to restore the nuclear capacity of US planes in Britain was taken in 2021, “and the proposals They charged impulse after the Russian invasion of Ukraine three years ago“In fact, an NATO document published in 2023, shows that the United Kingdom has been added to the list of countries where They will modernize the specific weapons facilities.
The documents and images consulted “show that the United States Air Force He is resuming his nuclear mission in the United Kingdom For the first time in almost two decades. “In this sense, the publication indicates that” it seems to be a response to the deterioration of political and military relations with Russia as a result of its invasion in Ukraine, the frequent nuclear warnings and the deployment by Russia of conventional conventional weapons increasingly powerful. “
As for bunkers, “they are aircraft protection shelters with underground storage facilities underneath. Each of these spaces can contain four nuclear eyes“Even so,” there are no indications that any of these weapons have been deployed in Lakenheath, but the intention could be that They were closer to the most vulnerable places in Europe. “
According to the disseminated information, the United States withdrew its last nuclear weapons from the United Kingdom in 2008, believing that the threat of the cold war in Moscow had decreased. Although, there may be about 100 Nuclear B61-12 pumps in Air bases in Italy, Türkiye, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany“.
“The first nuclear weapons in Europe were deployed in the bases of the United Kingdom in 1954. With the end of the cold war, the nuclear arsenals were gradually reduced, and the last US weapons left Lakenhealth and the British soil when George W. Bush was president of the United States,” concludes the publication. Lakenheath is still the largest American military base in Britain and one of the largest in Europe.
