Why does the United States want to transfer its nuclear weapons to a large military base in Britain
The United States is reportedly once again trying to use the airport in the UK’s ‘Suffolk’ area to store nuclear weapons.
Documents show preparations are underway to restock nuclear weapons at Britain’s Royal Air Force’s ‘Butheath’ base.
According to reports, these nuclear weapons stored here are many times more powerful than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan in World War II.
What do we know about this project?
Currently, the 48th Fighter Wing of the US Air Force is stationed at the US Airport in Suffolk, also known as the ‘Liberty Wing’. The base also has advanced F-35 Lightning II aircraft.
According to the US Air Force, these F-35 aircraft are capable of carrying ‘B61-12 thermonuclear bombs’.
According to available documents, the U.S. Department of Defense published information about the contract given to build defense shelters in ‘Butheath’, but these details were soon removed from the website.
These mobile defence units will be set up to protect the ’48th Security Forces Squadron’ deployed at the airport.
In addition, millions of dollars have been allocated to build a special building to house nuclear weapons at the base, according to U.S. Department of Defense documents.
But the Royal Air Force Base in Heath was opened in 1941 and remained operational during World War II.
In 1951, when tensions between NATO and the Soviet bloc escalated during the Cold War, the U.S. Air Force took control of the base.
About 4,000 U.S. military personnel are currently stationed at the base, while about 1,500 U.S. and British civilians are also stationed.
Is ‘Suffolk’ going to be a nuclear weapons hub again?
Sir Lawrence Friedman is an honorary professor of war studies at King’s College London. He says there are indications that the plan has been made only as a precaution.
He says that preparations are being made here so that if some weapons have to be transferred from nuclear weapons reserves in Europe in the future, they can be kept here.
Sir Lawrence says that building a special facility in the base to store weapons is one thing and hiding that American nuclear weapons will now be kept in Britain is quite another. He thinks there will be some other reason for all this, not the dramatic increase in the arms race.
It has been a long-standing policy of Britain and NATO that they neither confirm nor deny the presence of nuclear weapons in any place.
Why is this happening right now?
Sir Lawrence believes that these issues have nothing to do with the situation in Ukraine.
This, he says, could be related to rising tensions with Russia in general.
According to him, these issues also reflect Russia’s preference for short-range weapons.
Former NATO official William Albuquerque is now associated with the International Organization for Strategic Studies. “This is a response to the growing threat environment across Europe due to Russia’s actions,” he says. ‘
To buttress his point, he cites the deployment of Russian nuclear forces in Belarus, the invasion of Ukraine, and the growing threat of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s use of nuclear weapons.
How will bringing nuclear weapons make a difference to the base?
Hans Christensen of the Federation of American Scientists is one of the first to predict the return of nuclear weapons to the Royal Air Force ‘Butheath’.
“There is no doubt that if a base has nuclear weapons, it will be the first thing to try to target in the event of a nuclear war with Russia,” he says. ‘
However, al-Barak says there is a strong possibility that the base is already on target from Russia (i.e., despite the absence of nuclear weapons).
“If I were a Russian military planner, I would have targeted him. If you watch Russian television, there’s a lot of talk about Britain. There is a lot of debate about targeting Britain with nuclear weapons. ‘
They believe That Russian President Putin Can Allow The Use Of Nuclear Weapons.
“It would be wrong to say that he (Putin) is not capable of doing that. ‘
Alberk believes that if the Russian president feels that he will not have to face the consequences of his action, then he will go through it.
What will happen next?
The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, a non-governmental organization that campaigns for denuclearization, has launched demonstrations outside the base.
Kate Hudson, the organization’s general secretary, says that if these weapons are here, we will keep them out of here.
The organization has directed a law firm to examine whether the construction of the US military base for the storage of nuclear weapons is legal or illegal.
Lawyer Ricardo Gama said the UK Defence Ministry was of the view that the construction in “But Heath” would not have a negative impact on the environment. However, according to Gama, his client says the Ministry of Defense is ignoring the potential environmental impacts of having nuclear weapons at the airbase, including nuclear accidents.