Why is the USA now housing nuclear weapon in UK?

[sheetsoflux]

It's all the official news sources, not anything 'Daily Fail' related

The USA removed these in the earlier 2000s because the threat was down.

Why are they bringing it back if all this talk with a war with Russia and conscription really is just fear mongering to get people comfortable with spending more £££ on defence?

There were some Protect and Survive leaflets around - they never came through letter boxes, but they'd been prepared and were going to be distributed (via libraries and other community organisations IIRC) if tensions rose. And I think the telly news must have reported on them, because I can still remember some snippets of info, with promise that there was indeed a full plan ready to go if needed.

I do remember Raymond Briggs "When The Wind Blows" - which looks like a children's book (like The Snowman or Fungus The Bogeyman) but really isn't

@mpsw Pre early 1980 the protect and survive was classified to a degree and only issued to LA emergency planners and police and fire service war-duties officers and central government war book leads. From 1980 it was available to buy - that was when the public would have seen it in libraries etc.

It is remarkable though if you ask people about cold war memories how many people say "protect and survive came through my letter box!"

As an aside it is mocked now but the advice in it is actually moderately sensible and would have been of use if there was a phase of conventional air attacks or (the not though likely mind) "limited exchange" - nothing would help you if you were close to the impact of a fusion weapon. The advice about what to keep for an emergency etc is the still the basis of current government emergency planning.

There was also the thought that protect and survive was useful on a control level - have the population focussing doing the prep in the book and on an psychological level to feel you were doing "something" to prepare!

Why have them here?
Having submarines which are somewhere at sea and are capable of launching a missile is a deterrent
There are plenty of silos in the US that can fire anywhere in the world.
What weapons in the UK would be needed - clearly not ICBMs so maybe tactical weapons?

I remember Greenham Common and the 80s protests.

Tactical nuclear weapon - Wikipedia

Tactical weapons are not a deterrance. Just effective battlefield weapons
Ballistic ICBMs are a deterrence

For the reasons explained above

@notimagain True. Welford ia a US munitions store. It would be interesting to see a stock list.

TBH if you know the signs it’s usually pretty straightforward to spot if a facility is holding something nuclear. It’s also fairly straightforward to spot if something of that nature is being transported to and fro between wherever it is stored and a maintenance facility for servicing purposes…(which they have to be on a regular basis)

They are not that easy to hide for any length of time and I’m sure the likes of CND would be shouting it from the rooftops if Welford or any other US airbase in England was storing anything of that nature.