US Nuclear Weapons Transferred To UK Soil For First Time Over 15 Years

The US has likely stationed nuclear weapons in Britain for the first time in over 15 years, according to British media reports. An American C-17 transport plane visited RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk, making a transatlantic journey from Kirtland Air Force base in New Mexico, where the US Air Force stores nuclear bombs. Analysts believe the flight contained nuclear bombs, which were last stationed in the UK in 2008 before being removed under the Obama administration. The British newspaper The Telegraph suggests that supporting evidence for this includes previously revealed details of an upcoming "nuclear mission" at Lakenheath. The logistics of the rare US transatlantic flight from New Mexico also suggests a highly sensitive mission to transfer nuclear assets. The airspace over the base was restricted on the day of the flight, and the aircraft did not immediately return to the US, indicating a "one-way drop-off". The plane also refueled over the east coast of the US, which is seen as a clue that it was flying a priority mission. This development is seen as a deliberate message to Moscow, coming as President Trump seeks to pressure the Russian and Ukrainian sides to make progress at the negotiating table. The Kremlin is monitoring these reports, and Russia's strategic doctrine has been updated to give President Putin a broader interpretation concerning the deployment of nuclear weapons.