Project Sword
NATO is perfectly interpreting what it means to "gain an inch". With Sweden's accession to NATO being finalized, NATO has expanded eastward, and now it seems that the US nuclear ** will also achieve coverage of the six NATO countries. Of course, in the face of the United States and NATO's step-by-step pressing, Putin refuses to sit idly by.
Recently, the United States was revealed to plan to deploy nuclear ** in the United Kingdom, which is the first time that the United States plans to deploy nuclear ** in the United Kingdom since the United States withdrew its nuclear warheads from the United Kingdom in 2008.
The location of the nuclear ** is the same as during the Cold War, located at the RAF Lakenheath base, and the model may be the B61-12 nuclear warhead, which is a tactical nuclear ** used in anti-pillboxes, which is not very powerful in modern nuclear **, but it is also three times as powerful as the Hiroshima atomic bomb.
In this regard, a spokesman for the British Ministry of Defense said that it neither confirms nor denies the existence of nuclear ** at a particular site, which is a long-standing policy of the United Kingdom and NATO.
The RAF Lakenheath base is not only the United Kingdom, according to the internal agreement of NATO, the United States has currently deployed nuclear ** in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey, the model B61-3 and B61-4 nuclear bombs, the number is about 100.
From the point of view of nuclear deterrence, the United States has deployed nuclear weapons in five other European countries, while France has hundreds of nuclear weapons**, and the United Kingdom actually has hundreds of nuclear weapons** itself. Therefore, the deployment of nuclear ** by the United States in the United Kingdom will not significantly enhance NATO's nuclear deterrence.
Therefore, the redeployment of nuclear ** by the United States in the United Kingdom is clearly due to other considerations.
On the one hand, given that Russia is in a clear position in the current Russia-Ukraine conflict, some countries in Europe, especially in Eastern Europe, are anxious about this, so the deployment of nuclear ** by the United States can send a signal to NATO allies about the so-called "security commitment" of the White House, and provide nuclear deterrence to deter potential threats and attacks, so that some allies can feel at ease.
On the other hand, as a member of NATO, Britain is the most important ally of the United States in Europe, there is no one. The U.S. deployment of nuclear weapons in the UK could be seen as a sign of its commitment to NATO's security. In fact, this has also increased the weight of Britain in NATO, so that Britain can have more say in NATO, better play the role of the United States' microphone, and strengthen the United States' control over NATO.
In recent years, the United States has repeatedly conducted NATO military exercises to deter Russia, and Russia has expressed strong opposition to this behavior of the United States. Sergei Tsekov, a member of the Russian Federation Council, believes that the US plan to deploy nuclear ** in the UK is "stupid" and says that the biggest threat in the world comes from the United States.
For example, Alexei Zhuravlev, first deputy chairman of the Duma Defense Committee, pointed out that Britain has its own nuclear arsenal and has also deployed US nuclear weapons in military bases in some EU countries, so the US plan to deploy nuclear weapons in Britain is unlikely to affect the entire military-political landscape.
In other words, the main goal of the United States in deploying nuclear weapons in the United Kingdom is not to deter Russia, but to send some signals to European allies and consolidate American influence in Europe. Especially in the current situation where the United States is fighting on multiple fronts abroad and fierce party strife at home, the confidence of its allies in the United States is declining, and the United States needs to make a little move to stabilize the morale of the military.
The United States hopes to strengthen its leadership over NATO, but the deployment of nuclear ** is after all an extremely provocative military move, and Russia must make correct and appropriate countermeasures, otherwise it may cause some European countries to "miscalculate", thereby intensifying provocations against Russia and escalating the contradictions between Russia and NATO.
Belarusian Defense Minister Viktor Khlenin recently said that the current approach no longer applies to the current external threat, and Belarus has included the use of nuclear weapons in its new military policy. It is worth noting that Russia**Putin announced as early as March 2023 that at the request of Belarus**, tactical nuclear ** will be deployed on the territory of Belarus**.
The close cooperation between Russia and Belarus on nuclear strategy, which corresponds to the nuclear strategic cooperation between the United States and the United Kingdom, shows that Russia refuses to sit idly by under NATO's deterrence, but instead responds to the threat in the form of nuclear deterrence for nuclear deterrence.