Fleet of drones spotted over major US airbase in Britain

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The largest American airbase on British soil was buzzed by drones this week, the US Air Force has confirmed, amid unconfirmed reports that fighter planes were dispatched to intercept the encroaching aircraft.

The incident occurred on Wednesday above RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk, which has been earmarked as a storage facility for US nuclear warheads three times more powerful than the Hiroshima bomb.

While US Air Forces in Europe (USAFE) played down the incursion, it will do little to dampen the prevailing mood of unease following warnings from Vladimir Putin that Ukraine’s use of British and American long-range weaponry could see military facilities in those countries targeted.

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USAFE declined to comment on either claims that flight operations were affected or the reported deployment of F-15E Strike Eagles.

‘To protect operational security, we do not discuss our specific force protection measures, but retain the right to protect the installation,’ the spokesperson added.

RAF Lakenheath, which appears poised to house US nuclear weapons for the first time in 15 years, is home to the 48th Fighter Wing and a site of major strategic significance as the US moves to bolster its European presence in the face of Russian expansionism.

Earlier this year, unredacted documents from the US Department of Defence’s procurement database showed that the Pentagon has ordered equipment, including ballistic shields, for the airbase.

The construction of facilities to house US soldiers at Lakenheath, where the drone incursion follows similar activity above the US Army’s Picatinny Arsenal in northern New Jersey two days earlier.

The American army has revealed that it is developing special ammunition to shoot down spy drones, with helicopters and tanks to be equipped with medium-calibre rounds capable of hitting small, high-speed targets.

‘There’s not enough air defence assets out there,’ Major General John T Reim, the Picatinny Arsenal’s commanding general, told military website Task and Purpose last month.

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The developments follow warnings from Russian officials that British support for Ukraine, which this week fired UK-supplied Storm shadow missiles into Russian territory for the first time, could ‘lead to a collision between nuclear powers’

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https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14117587/drones-spotted-airbase-Britain-RAF-Lakenheath-nuclear-weapons.html