The US air force has secured $50m (£39m) funding next year for a project that could pave the way for American nuclear weapons to return to British soil for the first time in 15 years.
In justifying the expenditure on a 144-bed dormitory at RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk, the USAF told Congress the building was intended.
to "house the increase in enlisted personnel as the result of the potential surety mission", which is jargon typically used by the Pentagon to refer to handling of nuclear weapons, according to experts.
Construction of the dormitory is due to start in June 2024 and last until February 2026. It is the latest in a series of signs that preparations are under way for a possible return of US nuclear weapons to British territory.
Matt Korda, of the Federation of American Scientists (FAS), who first reported on the budget request, said: "The mention of the arrival of the potential surety mission caught my eye as that is a buzzword, a term commonly used in the defence department and the nuclear weapons complex to refer to the positive control of nuclear weapons in a safe and secure way." The FAS previously reported that in the 2023 defence budget, Britain was added to the list of countries where infrastructure investment was under way on "special weapons" storage sites in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey.
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