The Telegraph: US to deploy nuclear weapons in Britain to counter Russian threat
Kyiv • UNN
The United States plans to deploy nuclear weapons in the UK for the first time in 15 years due to the growing threat from Russia, according to Pentagon documents. The move involves deploying warheads three times the power of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima at the new RAF Lakenheath facility in Suffolk.
The United States plans to deploy nuclear weapons in the UK for the first time in 15 years due to the growing threat from Russia. This is evidenced by Pentagon documents reviewed by The Telegraph, UNN reports .
Details
It is noted that the procurement contracts for the new RAF Lakenheath facility in Suffolk confirm that the United States intends to deploy nuclear warheads at the air base, which are three times the power of the Hiroshima bomb.
British journalists assume that the airbase will deploy B61-12 gravity bombs, which have a variable yield of up to 50 kilotons, more than three times the yield of the atomic weapons dropped on Hiroshima in 1945.
The publication says that the United States has already announced plans to deploy two squadrons of fifth-generation F-35 fighter jets, which can carry tactical nuclear weapons, as part of the 48th Fighter Wing at Lakenheath.
Addendum Addendum
The United States withdrew nuclear missiles from Britain in 2008, believing that the threat of war from Moscow had diminished.
The possible return of nuclear weapons is part of a program to develop and modernize nuclear facilities in response to escalating tensions with the Kremlin after the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Russia has said that the deployment of US weapons in Britain would be viewed by Moscow as an "escalation" and would involve "compensatory countermeasures.
The United States currently has nuclear warheads deployed in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Turkey under the NATO nuclear weapons sharing agreement.
Recall
Last week, Admiral Rob Bauer, a senior NATO military official, said that civilians should prepare for an all-out war with Russia in the next 20 years, which will require dramatic changes in their lives.