The US is planning to station nuclear weapons in Britain for the first time in over a decade in order to counter the threat posed by Vladimir Putin.
According to Pentagon documents, America will place nukes on UK soil for the first time in 16 years.
US nukes were last stationed in Britain in 2008, when it was judged that the Cold War threat posed from Russia had decreased.
Over 100 warheads were removed from the site as nuclear war was deemed to be less likely.
This will be the first time in 16 years that the US will station nukes on British soil
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16 years later though, that seems to have changed, with the strength of the weapons reported to be three times that of the bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima.
The Kremlin has replied saying that it would view this move as an "escalation" and it would be met with "counter-measures".
The B61-12 gravity bombs, as well as ballistic shields, will be stationed "imminently" at RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk.
The Pentagon documents show that construction of a housing facility for American soldiers at the base will start in June.
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The weapons will be stationed "imminently" at RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk
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Plans were first revealed in November when US deputy defence secretary Kathleen Hicks visited the base.
Both the US Department of Defense and the UK Ministry of Defence had refused to comment on the speculation at the time.
Pentagon spokesman Eric Pahon had said: "While at RAF Lakenheath, deputy secretary toured infrastructure improvements designed to improve base resilience and support for the base’s F-35 squadron and see demonstrations of US capabilities."
A planning objection by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), argued that the MoD and West Suffolk Council failed to conduct an environmental impact assessment at the time.
This comes as part of a Nato-wide programme aimed at upgrading nuclear sites in member countries in response to the escalation of tensions with Moscow, following the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The Pentagon stated that the documents are "not predictive of, nor are they intended to disclose any specific posture or basing details".
A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said: "It remains a longstanding UK and NATO policy to neither confirm nor deny the presence of nuclear weapons at a given location."
Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said: "In the context of the transition of the United States and Nato to an openly confrontational course of inflicting a 'strategic defeat' on Russia, this practice and its development force us to take compensating countermeasures to reliably protect the security interests of our country and its allies."
