Cold War 2:US to Return Nukes to UK Air Base - plus what the Baltic States are implementing

According to research conducted by BBC News and the British news outlet The Telegraph,the US will soon be restarting its nuclear mission at RAF Lakenheath,England.The original mission was terminated in 2008 when Cold War tensions seemed to be easing.Ironically,that same year Russia invaded and occupied two Republic of Georgia territories,South Ossetia and Ingushetia,where it maintains a military presence to this day.In 2014,Russia-backed militants took over two Ukrainian Oblasts,Luhansk and Donetsk.On 30 September 2022,following its brutal invasion of Ukraine that February,Russia annexed these areas,and also annexed two cities,Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.There are no formal boundaries to these annexations.Russia had previously annexed Crimea,Ukraine on 18 March 2014.*The return of B61 thermonuclear bombs to RAF Lakenheath is reportedly imminent.Today,the West is gripped with the prospect that Russia and Belarus may lash out at NATO.There is uncertainty about Russia's and Belarus' intentions,and anxiety about the unpredictability of these adversaries.NATO is consequently processing an upgrade of its nuclear deterrent forces,which are currently assigned to air bases in Belgium,Germany,Italy,the Netherlands and Turkiye.This programme involves the US nuclear sharing programme that is a dual key arrangement,with both the US and the host NATO Ally having to sign off on nuclear missions.The latest version of the B61 is the B61-12.It is calibrated to a wide range of kilotonnages,up to a level amounting to several Hiroshima blasts,but also has many levels far below that blast magnitude.The documents obtained by the BBC include several contracts for facility construction at Lakenheath,including troop shelters needed for the imminent nuclear mission.A guardhouse for US Air Force Security Forces is to have ballisitic shielding.Other contracts awarded are for a Surety Dormitory,or nuclear weapons bunker,and hardened ballistic security shelters with bulletproof glass that can stop a .30 caliber projectile.Predictably,there have been anti-nuclear protests just outside Lakenheath.*The nuclear mission has been assigned to two squadrons of US Air Force F-35A Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters deployed to Lakenheath as part of the 48th Fighter Wing.The F-35As were flight tested with the B61-12.The mission involves training for,and,if necessary,executing the nuclear mission.*Both the US and the UK declined to confirm or deny whether there are nuclear weapons at Lakenheath.*Meanwhile,the Baltic States are fortifying their borders with Russia and Belarus as a first line of defence.For its part,Estonia is building a massive complex of 600 bunkers along its border with Russia,each bunker to house up to six troops.Russia says it will respond to Finland's hardening of its border with Russia,as well as to the renuclearisation of RAF Lakenheath.Most recently,some NATO leaders have expressed concern about the security of the rear areas of NATO,such as those deep inside Germany,whose Bundeswehr is the second largest military in NATO.These need to be better protected as well,not just the Eastern Flank.

Deterrence and Defence:NATO's New Plan for the Eastern Flank

According to NATO,the Alliance has increased its military presence in the Eastern Flank as a direct result of Russia's behaviour,which reflects a pattern of aggressive actions against its neighbours and the wider transatlantic community.Russia is the most significant and direct threat to Allies' security and to peace and stability in the Euro-Atlantic area.* Following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022,Allies reinforced the existing Enhanced Forward Presence Battlegroups.It was decided to form four more Battlegroups in Bulgaria,Hungary,Romania and Slovakia.This has brought the total number of multinational Battlegroups to eight,and has effectively doubled the number of troops on the ground and extended NATO's forward presence along the Alliance's Eastern Flank,from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Black Sea in the south.* At the 2022 NATO Summit in Madrid,the Allies decided to scale up the multinational Battlegroups from Battalion (US Army 100-1,000 troops under a Lieutenant Colonel) up to a Brigade (US Army 2,000-5,000 Soldiers under a Brigadier General or Colonel) where and when required.This scaling up of rapidly available forces would take place during a crisis and is being practised in drills.* Besides this capability,Allies have sent additional ships,planes and troops to NATO territory in Eastern Europe,further reinforcing the Alliance's Forward Defence and Deterrence Forces.The Battlegroups are not identical;their sizes and compositions are tailored to specific geographical sectors and threats.Forces from contributing nations rotate in and out of the Battlegroups at any given time.They may be deployed to Battlegroups or stationed in their home countries with the ability to deploy rapidly if needed.* All eight Battlegroups are integrated into NATO's command structure to ensure necessary readiness and responsiveness.The rapid reinforcement strategy ensures that Forward Defence and Deterrence Forces will be reinforced by NATO's Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF),the broader NATO Response Force (NRF),Allies' additional high-readiness forces and NATO's heavier follow on forces as needed.* Also at the 2022 NATO Summit in Madrid,Allies agreed a new NATO Force Model that represents a broader expansion of our higher-readiness forces potentially available to NATO when and where required.The NATO Force Model is still being developed for implementation later in 2023.Further measures to boost NATO's ability to reinforce include developing more pre-positioned equipment and weapon stockpiles;more forward-deployed cacpabilities,including air and missile defence systems;strengthened Command and Control;and upgraded regional defence plans,with specific forces pre-assigned in the defence of specific Allies.The pre-assigned forces will work with in-place forces-both national home defence and Allied forward presence forces-and become familiar with local terrain,facilities and pre-positioned stock so that they can reinforce the Allies even faster.* At the 2023 NATO Vilnius Summit,Allies approved a new generation of regional defence plans,which will significantly improve coherence of NATO's collective defence planning with Allies' national defence planning of their forces,posture,capabilities and Command and Control.The Alliance will continue to ensure that its posture remains credible,coherent and resilient,able to act immediately in response to any aggression.

US Army, NATO. Tanks at combined arms exercises with live firing in Poland.

NATO. US and UK deployed troops to Lithuania from Poland.