The US are planning to station nuclear weapons at an RAF air base “three times” the power of the Hiroshima bomb.
According to The Telegraph the US nuclear warheads will be stationed at RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk under the plans.
The Telegraph reported that Pentagon documents have revealed there are contracts in place that shows “the US intends to place nuclear warheads three times the strength of the Hiroshima bomb at the air base.”
The Telegraph reported, “Unredacted documents on the US department of defence’s procurement database reveal plans for a ‘nuclear mission’ that will take place ‘imminently’ at RAF Lakenheath.”
The nuclear warheads are reported to be B61-12 gravity bombs, which is a low to intermediate-yield strategic and tactical nuclear weapon that features a two-stage radiation implosion and it can be deployed by a B-52 Stratofortress and various other warplanes.
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The newspaper has said the deployment is part of a NATO programme to “develop and upgrade nuclear sites” as a direct result of Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said in response to The Telegraph’s report, “It remains a longstanding UK and NATO policy to neither confirm nor deny the presence of nuclear weapons at a given location.”
This will be the first time the US has stored nuclear weapons in the UK in 15-years since they were removed in 2008 as the Cold War threat had diminished.
This comes as senior military figures both in Washington and the UK have called for NATO to be prepared and ready for a war between the alliance and Russia.
Last week Admiral Rob Bauer, a senior NATO military official warned Europe must prepare for all out war with Russia.
On Wednesday Tobias Ellwood, the former chairman of the defence select committee, said, “We must get into a mindset that the world is moving dangerously in the wrong direction and it is now impacting on our economy, first in the Black Sea, now in the Red Sea.
“The post-Cold War period of instability is over, a new chapter has begun where a new alliance of adversaries are testing the West’s timidity.
“Britain has done well to rekindle its Cold War statecraft, but we can only continue to do that if we upgrade our defence posture.”
General Sir Patrick Sanders, the outgoing Chief of the General Staff (CGS) has said in a speech on Wednesday that the UK should “train and equip” the public for a “citizen army.”
General Sir Patrick said the UK has to be ready for a potential land war, but cautioned even that would be “not enough.”
He pointed to our allies in eastern and northern Europe who are currently “laying the foundation for national mobilisation.”
The Army chief said on Wednesday to increase numbers in the armed forces to prepare for all out war will need to be a “whole of nation undertaking.”
The Daily Telegraph reported in a warning that British men and women need to prepare to be called up to fight should NATO and Russia enter conflict triggering Article 5.
General Sir Patrick said in 2022 after Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine that this “is our 1937 moment,” warning the British Army should now be at “high readiness.”
Sir Patrick warned on Wednesday that Britain cannot rely on our navy and air power, he added, “we must be able to credibly fight and win wars on land.”
He said, “We need an Army designed to expand rapidly to enable the first echelon, resource the second echelon and train and equip the citizen army that must follow.
“Within the next three years, it must be credible to talk of a British Army of 120,000, folding in our reserve and strategic reserve. But this is not enough.
“Our friends in eastern and northern Europe, who feel the proximity of the Russian threat more acutely, are already acting prudently, laying the foundations for national mobilisation.
“As the chairman of the NATO military committee warned just last week, and as the Swedish government has done, preparing Sweden for entry to NATO, taking preparatory steps to enable placing our societies on a war footing when needed are now not merely desirable but essential.
“We will not be immune and as the pre-war generation we must similarly prepare — and that is a whole-of-nation undertaking.
“Ukraine brutally illustrates that regular armies start wars; citizen armies win them.”
