The US aims to station nuclear weapons in the UK for the first time in 15 years due to increased threat from Russia, The Telegraph reported on 27 January, citing Pentagon documents.
According to the statement, the nuclear weapon the US intends to place in eastern England is three times more powerful than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945.
“The US removed nuclear missiles from the UK in 2008, saying that the Cold War threat from Moscow had diminished,” the report states.
However, the return of American nuclear weapons is said to be “part of a Nato-wide program to develop and upgrade nuclear sites in response to heightened tensions with the Kremlin.”
Adml Rob Bauer, a senior NATO military official, said on 18 January that European citizens should prepare for an all-out war with Russia in the next 20 years that would require wholesale change in their lives.
The tensions follow Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. According to the article, “Russia has stated that Moscow would view the placement of US weapons in Britain as an ‘escalation’ and would be met with ‘compensating counter-measures’.”
The US currently has nuclear warheads stationed in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Türkiye under a NATO nuclear sharing agreement.
“The US regularly modernizes its military facilities in allied countries. Such activity is often accompanied by non-classified administrative budget documentation,” a Pentagon spokesperson said.
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