Recent documents have suggested that the US Air Force base at RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk could once again be home to nuclear weapons. According to reports, the base is preparing to house and protect bombs with a much greater explosive power than the one used in the bombing of Hiroshima at the end of World War II. The base is currently home to the 48th Fighter Wing, also known as the Liberty Wing, with the latest generation F-35A Lightning II aircraft stationed there. The USAF has confirmed that these fighter jets have been successfully flight tested to carry the short-range B61-12 thermonuclear bomb, a tactical weapon designed for the battlefield.
Documents further reveal that the base is to receive millions of dollars to fund the construction of a facility known as a “surety dormitory”, which is believed to be storage facilities for nuclear weapons, according to a US Department of Defense budget document. Reports have suggested that the mobile units being constructed on the base would protect the troops assigned to defend the base. The RAF base at Lakenheath opened its doors in 1941 and has been operational since World War II. Today, the site holds 4,000 US military personnel and a further 1,500 British and United States civilian staff.
The UK and NATO have a policy to neither confirm nor deny the presence of nuclear weapons at a given location. Emeritus Professor of War Studies at King’s College London, Sir Lawrence Freedman, has stated that the move to bring nuclear arms to Lakenheath could just be extra capacity in the event other weapons had to be removed from storage sites across Europe. The shelters could just be “precautionary,” he noted, with the base simply “building capacity there for a rainy day.” The danger of having nuclear arms on a base is that, during a nuclear conflict, a base housing nuclear arms is more likely to be targeted.
The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) has already staged a protest outside the base and commissioned law firm Leigh Day to investigate whether the construction of the “surety dormitory” is legal. The law firm has pointed out the UK’s MoD has stated that the development of the new structure at Lakenheath would not have significant environmental effects. They have also suggested that there could be potential environmental effects and dangers that have been ignored, including the risk of nuclear accidents
Read the full article from The BBC here: Read More