The United States has deployed nuclear weapons on British soil for the first time since 2008, which analysts say is a clear signal to Vladimir Putin that Washington’s commitment to European security remains unchanged. About this informs Bloomberg with reference to the analysis of flight data and official documents.
On July 16, a transponder-enabled U.S. military transport C-17 took off from Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico — one of the main storage facilities for U.S. nuclear weapons — and landed nonstop at Lakenheath Air Force Base in Great Britain. The flight route did not pass over the territory of any third country.
As experts note, this flight was carried out by a unit of the US Air Force responsible for the transportation of nuclear munitions. There are suggestions that upgraded B61-12 thermonuclear bombs could be on board, an updated model of American tactical nuclear weapons.
Researchers see this as a sign of the U.S. resuming its deployment of a tactical nuclear arsenal in Europe, something not seen since the Cold War. Although the US and UK governments have not officially confirmed the presence of nuclear weapons on the territory of the British base, open sources have documented significant spending from the US defense budget on the so-called guarantee facilities at the Lakenheath base, a term that usually refers to the infrastructure for storing nuclear munitions.
Analysts believe that with these actions, Washington seeks to demonstrate to Moscow not a reduction, but a strengthening of its military presence in Europe against the background of the ongoing war against Ukraine.
