Overview

• Flight-tracking data showed a USAF C-17’s one-way trip from Kirtland AFB to RAF Lakenheath, indicating delivery of B61-12 gravity bombs for the first time since 2008
• US Department of Defense and UK Ministry of Defence maintain neither-confirm-nor-deny stances on specific nuclear deployments
• Storage bunkers at Lakenheath were fitted with new blast shields and a ‘surety dormitory’ to meet B61-12 handling and security requirements
• Modernised B61-12 bombs feature variable low-yield settings and precision guidance and are certified for use with F-35A Lightning II jets
• NATO’s renewed nuclear sharing through forward basing at Lakenheath completes a deterrence shift driven by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine