DEFCON ONE
US will station nuclear weapons in UK’s RAF Lakenheath for first time in 15 years risking Putin’s fury, docs reveal
Russia said they would see it as an 'escalation' of war if the US were to put nuclear weapons back in the UK
THE US is planning to station nuclear weapons in the UK for the first time in 15 years as the threat of WW3 with Russia increases.
Bombshell documents from the Pentagon revealed the US is set to store the weapons at RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk.
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The US intends to keep nuclear warheads up to three times the strength of the deadly Hiroshima bomb at the air base, according to the procurement contracts.
Nuclear missiles were removed by the US from the UK in 2008 when the threat of Cold War was believed to have diminished.
RAF Lakenheath is expected to take in B61-12 gravity bombs which have a variable yield of up to 50 kilotons.
The UK currently has a stockpile of 260 nuclear warheads, as revealed by ex-Prime Minister Boris Johnson in March 2021.
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At its peak in the 1970s, the UK had a stockpile of 520 warheads.
The tell-it-all documents from the US Department of Defence’s procurement database revealed plans for a “nuclear mission” set to take place “imminently” at the RAF base.
The first feeling that the US was set to move its nukes came when budget documents were released last year.
They showed the Pentagon had ordered new equipment for the base, including ballistic shields designed to protect military personnel from "high value assets" attacks.
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RAF Lakenheath has been run by the US Air Force under British regulations and laws for decades now.
The agreement allows the US to have a home for its nuclear weapons that can be deployed by F-35 fighter jets.
The US has already announced plans to station two squadrons of the F-35 fighter jets at RAF Lakenheath with the 48th Fighter Wing.
The return of weapons to the UK is part of a huge Nato push to develop and upgrade nuclear sites across the world in preparation for a potential escalation of fighting.
Tensions have heightened with the Kremlin after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Russia has previously said it would view the US placing weapons in Britain as an “escalation” that would be met with “compensating counter-measures”.
Maria Zakharova, a Russian foreign ministry spokesman, said prior to the latest announcement: “If this step is ever made, we will view it as escalation, as a step toward escalation that would take things to a direction that is quite opposite to addressing the pressing issue of pulling all nuclear weapons out of European countries.
“This practice and its development force us to take compensating countermeasures designed to reliably protect the security interests of our country and its allies.”
The US currently has warheads placed across Europe in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Turkey, under a Nato arrangement.
We need to be readier across the whole spectrum.
Dutch Admiral Rob Bauer,
The Pentagon has not confirmed it is planning to store nukes in the UK.
A spokesman said: “The United States routinely upgrades its military facilities in allied nations. Unclassified administrative budget documents often accompany such activities.
“These documents are not predictive of, nor are they intended to disclose any specific posture or basing details.
“It is US policy to neither confirm nor deny the presence or absence of nuclear weapons at any general or specific location.”
The West has faced increasing pressure to act after conflicts have increased across the globe including trouble in Iran and North Korea - both allies to Putin.
The US and UK have also carried out air strikes against Yemen's Houthi rebels in the Red Sea.
Iran-backed militia have attacked container ships connected to Israel in revenge attacks for Israel's offensive in Gaza against Hamas.
It comes just days after a Nato chief warned Brits could face conscription as the threat of all-out war with Russia looms.
Chief of Nato's military committee Dutch Admiral Rob Bauer called on the West to "prepare for an era of war", adding that Nato "needs a warfighting transformation".
During a crunch summit between Nato defence chiefs in Brussels, Bauer said: "We need to be readier across the whole spectrum.
"You have to have a system in place to find more people if it comes to war, whether it does or not. Then you talk mobilisation, reservists or conscription.
"We have to realise it’s not a given that we are in peace. And that’s why we [Nato forces] are preparing for a conflict with Russia."
Gen Sir Patrick made his plea to ordinary Britons at the International Armoured Vehicles Conference in Twickenham.
He said: "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.
"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.
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"Our predecessors failed to perceive the implications of the so-called July Crisis in 1914 and stumbled into the most ghastly of wars. We cannot afford to make the same mistake today."
If introduced, it will be the first time in more than 60 years that Brits are required to fight.
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The 'real' danger of WW3 starting
WITH several ongoing world conflicts, the looming threat of nuclear warfare has sparked fears that WW3 could soon be a reality if we aren't careful.
The hypothetical Doomsday Clock was just 90 seconds away this year and if it hits midnight all hell is predicted to break loose.
The clock is a sign of Armeggedon and acts as a wake-up call for the world about global threats such as nuclear war, dangerous technologies and mass health concerns - including a potential WW3.
The threats posed by Vladimir Putin and his war with Ukraine continue, with Bulletin president and CEO Rachel Bronson saying how the horror October 7 attacks in Israel added an extra source of concern.
The Middle East has become a powder keg unsettled by Israel's ongoing war against Hamas, Iran-backed Houthi rebel attacks in the Red Sea, and recent clashes and strikes between Iran and Pakistan.
This has pushed the world closer towards the brink of WW3 as tyrants Kim Jong-un and Putin have sent a chilling warning to the West .
Warnings of a potential new world order had already been given by Putin's warmonger foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, who told the West that their time of "global domination" is over.
And veteran Russian MP Alexander Osovtsov said World War Three has already begun for the West's enemies and "we're all participating in it".
Meanwhile, Baltic states are racing to bolster defences on their borders with Russia and Belarus as Europe braces for an all-out war.
And as the prospect of nuclear weapons being developed and used and a worrying reduction in agreements alongside climate change, new genetic engineering technologies and AI, and the dangers of disinformation all come as major concerns.
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