US nuclear bombs ‘set to return to UK’ for first time in 15 years

American nuclear bombs are set to return to Britain after 15 years.

A senior US defence official has visited an RAF base within the Suffolk countryside, paving the best way for the controversial arms to come back again to the UK. Deputy Defence Secretary Kathleen Hicks went to RAF Lakenheath for a tour of “infrastructure improvements” on the air station, based on The Daily Telegraph.

The Pentagon is planning a £39.5million dormitory for troops with the navy website due for use for “surety” – a US defence term to describe operations related to nuclear weapons, the paper reported. The last American nuclear arms were removed from Britain in 2008, when approximately 110 tactical B61s stored at Lakenheath were stripped out.

The weapon – a low to intermediate-yield strategic and tactical nuclear bomb – stays a part of the US’ “enduring stockpile” following the top of the Cold War. It may very well be dropped by US Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle fighter-bombers. The plane are nonetheless primarily based at Lakenheath as a part of the USAF forty eighth Fighter Wing – referred to as The Liberty Wing – its predominant air defence mission in Europe.

“Historically, the 48th FW has been the foundation of USAFE’s combat capability and remains so today,” says its web site.

The looming deployment comes after Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine – which plunged relations between Moscow and the West into their worst state for the reason that Cold War. The East Anglia airbase can be residence to the USAF’s F-35 Lightning II stealth jets.

Pentagon spokesman Eric Pahon instructed The Telegraph Ms Hicks visited the bottom as a part of a three-day tour to the UK to fulfill British counterparts. “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,” he mentioned.

Deployment of American nuclear arms to Britain would generate contemporary controversy. Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament basic secretary Kate Hudson instructed the Mirror: “Kathleen Hicks’ visit to RAF Lakenheath is further proof that Washington intends to use Britain as a launch pad for its nuclear arsenal in Europe. The lack of transparency surrounding this deployment is shocking, given how dangerous it is.

“Russia has already retaliated – it has stationed its own nuclear weapons in Belarus in response. A YouGov poll found that almost two thirds of the British public don’t want US nuclear weapons stationed here. That’s not surprising – they will make us a nuclear target. CND calls on the UK Government to say that US nuclear weapons are not welcome in Britain.”

Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer mentioned: “The world feels like an increasingly dangerous place with conflicts in Ukraine, Gaza and many other places. However, the positioning of US nuclear weapons at Lakenheath will not help ease tensions – it is far more likely to increase them. Over 100 nuclear bombs were stored at the airbase but they were removed in 2008. The UK Government should be working much harder to reduce the threat of nuclear war by actively supporting the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, and seeking to reverse the collapse of other international arms control treaties which were designed to protect us.”

Previous deployments of American nuclear weapons have triggered outrage. Greenham Common in Berkshire noticed years of anti-nuclear demonstrations, and was the UK’s greatest women-led motion for the reason that Suffragettes. The protest started in 1981 and lasted 19 years till the airbase was decommissioned.