The US air force has secured $50m (£39m) funding next year for a project that could pave the way for American nuclear weapons to return to British soil for the first time in more than 15 years.
In justifying the expenditure on a 144-bed dormitory at RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk, the USAF told Congress the building was intended to “house the increase in enlisted personnel as the result of the potential surety mission”, which is jargon typically used by the Pentagon to refer to handling of nuclear weapons, according to experts.
Construction of the dormitory is due to begin in June 2024 and last until February 2026, and is the latest in a series of signs that preparations are under way for the possible return of US nuclear weapons to UK territory.
Matt Korda, of the Federation of American Scientists (FAS), who
first reported on the budget request, said: “The mention of the arrival of the potential surety mission caught my eye as that is a buzzword, a term commonly used in the defence department and the nuclear weapons complex to refer to the positive control of nuclear weapons in a safe and secure way.”
The FAS
previously reported that in the 2023 defence budget, the UK was added to the list of countries where infrastructure investment is under way on “special weapons” storage sites in Europe, alongside Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey.
The FAS estimates there are about 100 B61 gravity bombs in storage in those five countries. They were
withdrawn from the UK in 2007, but the
storage facilities for the bombs were mothballed rather than dismantled.…..
The B61 bombs were once considered obsolete by the US military, a relic of the cold war. But instead of being retired, they have been upgraded to extend their life and improve their accuracy.
The new version, the B61-12, is expected to arrive in Europe this year. The new F-35A Lightning II fighters have been given certification to be armed with the modernised bombs, and the 495th Fighter Squadron, stationed at RAF Lakenheath, is due to become the first unit in Europe to receive the nuclear-capable planes…..
It is not clear from the budget documents whether the UK is intended to become a permanent base for US nuclear weapons, or a contingency base in the event of a crisis.
Another possibility is that when old versions of the B61 are withdrawn from Incirlik airbase in Turkey, they will not be replaced by B61-12s, because of longstanding concerns over the base’s proximity to the Syrian border and internal Turkish security after the attempted coup of 2016. In that case, the new bombs could be stationed in Lakenheath instead.