Major RAF base named as potential site to store US nuclear weapons after Congress secures funding
An RAF base has been named as a possible location to station US nuclear weapons, official documents suggest
PA
An RAF base has been named as a possible location to station US nuclear weapons, official documents suggest.
The US Air Force (USAF) has secured funding for a new facility at RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk.
Congress received a budgetary request for $50million (£39.5million) for a “surety dormitory” - nuclear weapons - where 110 US bombs were previously stored until 2008.
A report says the money will be used in Britain to “house the increase in enlisted personnel as the result of the potential surety mission”.
The US Air Force (USAF) has secured funding for a new facility at RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk
Reuters
During the Cold War in 1954, RAF Lakenheath was chosen as one of three sites for US nuclear weapons.
However, they were withdrawn in 2008 after the risk of nuclear war was reduced.
The site saw demonstrations against the weapons including by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.
Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, a former commander of Britain and Nato’s Joint Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Regiment explained that the site appeared to be a nuclear warhead store.
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“In this case, a surety dormitory is a bunker used to house nuclear missiles and warheads," he told the Telegraph.
"It needs to be hardened and a secure place – if the Russians wanted to drop a bomb on them it wouldn’t create a nuclear accident.
“This used to be the case at the height of the Cold War, a lot of these munitions went back to the States because they weren’t needed.
“But this seems like a prudent measure, if true, because the only reason they aren’t using nuclear weapons in Ukraine is because we have them as well.”
During the Cold War in 1954, RAF Lakenheath was chosen as one of three sites for US nuclear weapons
PA
The location of US nuclear weapons is usually not disclosed by officials and it did not officially acknowledge its withdrawal from Britain.
However, the removal of the bombs was noted by the Federation of American Scientists which monitors US nuclear activity.
RAF Lakenheath was the first in Europe to receive delivery of new F35A fighter jets in December 2021 and has been made available for American aircraft and weapons since 1948.
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