The US has likely positioned nuclear weapons in the United Kingdom for the first time since 2008, according to the Times.
The British newspaper spoke with analysts who said a C-17 transport took off from Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico, the US Air Force’s main nuclear storage site. They explained that the flight “looked like a ‘one-way drop-off’ and meant that it was likely that the UK was hosting US nuclear weapons.”
The US and UK governments did not respond to the Times‘ request for comment. The UK has a fleet of F-35 fighter jets capable of dropping US B-61 nuclear gravity bombs.
The Pentagon stores nuclear weapons in several countries under a NATO nuclear-sharing program. Germany, Italy, Turkey, the Netherlands, and Belgium each hold between 10 and 30 US nuclear weapons at various military bases.
The analyst speaking with the Times said that the US moved up to 30 nuclear weapons to the Royal Air Force’s Lakenheath air base in Suffolk, England.
Last year, a report by the Telegraph cited Pentagon documents which showed that the US was building a new facility at Lakenheath to store nuclear weapons. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded to the report, saying the move was part of ongoing nuclear militarization by Washington.
“We see a line towards escalation of tensions, towards militarization, including nuclear militarization,” he said. “Our relevant departments are monitoring developments in this area and formulating tasks to ensure our security against the backdrop of what is happening.”
The UK is a nuclear weapons state and has an arsenal of about 225 warheads.
