Fleet of drones ‘ranging in size’ spotted flying over £40m RAF airbase where US plans to store nuclear weapons

A SWARM of drones varying successful "size and configuration" was seen flying implicit a £40m RAF airbase that is acceptable to location American atomic weapons.

The US Air Force confirmed the drones were spotted supra RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk - wherever a fleet of American F-35s and F-15s are enactment connected standby successful lawsuit of immoderate large escalation.

Authorities person truthful acold denied to remark connected the quality and benignant of drones that were seen implicit the subject installation connected Wednesday, November 20.

A US Air Forces successful Europe spokesperson told The War Zone: "The fig of UASs fluctuated and they ranged successful size [and] configuration.

"The UASs were actively monitored and installation leaders determined that nary of the incursions impacted basal residents oregon captious infrastructure"

Unconfirmed reports suggest F-15E Strike Eagles were scrambled to pursuit the drones that affected the formation operations astatine the base.

The US Air Force is yet to respond to those claims.

“To support operational security, we bash not sermon our circumstantial unit extortion measures but clasp the close to support the installation,” USAFE told the subject website.

“We proceed to show our airspace and are moving with host-nation authorities and ngo partners to guarantee the information of basal personnel, facilities, and assets.”

RAF Lakenheath is simply a captious subject installation that stores the US Air Forces successful Europe's lone 4th and fifth-generation combatant wing, too being location to F-35A & F-15E tactical jets.

What makes the drone incidental adjacent much important is Vladimir Putin's menace against the West.

The raging dictator warned helium could onslaught British and US subject targets successful his biggest menace yet aft Ukraine fired Nato missiles into Russian territory.

In a televised code connected Thursday, Putin said subject facilities wrong the UK and the US could go valid targets for the Russian forces arsenic a nonstop effect to Ukraine's usage of US-made ATACMS and British Storm Shadow missiles.

He said: "Russia considers itself entitled to usage weapons against subject facilities of countries that licence the usage of their weapons against Russia.

"Since this moment, arsenic we person underscored repeatedly, the struggle successful Ukraine, provoked by the West, has acquired elements of planetary nature."

Earlier this year, bombshell documents from the Pentagon revealed the US is acceptable to store atomic weapons at RAF Lakenheath successful Suffolk.

The tell-it-all documents from the US Department of Defence’s procurement database revealed plans for a “nuclear mission” acceptable to instrumentality spot “imminently” astatine the RAF base.

They showed the Pentagon had ordered caller instrumentality for the base, including ballistic shields designed to support subject unit from "high-value assets" attacks.

RAF Lakenheath is expected to instrumentality successful B61-12 gravity bombs which person a adaptable output of up to 50 kilotons.

The atomic warheads volition beryllium up to 3 times the spot of the deadly Hiroshima weaponry astatine the aerial base, according to the procurement contracts.

Nuclear missiles were removed by the US from the UK successful 2008 erstwhile the menace of Cold War was believed to person diminished.

RAF Lakenheath has been tally by the US Air Force nether British regulations and laws for decades now.

The statement allows the US to person a location for its nuclear weapons that tin beryllium deployed by F-35 combatant jets.

Russia has antecedently said it would presumption the US placing weapons successful Britain arsenic an “escalation” that would beryllium met with “compensating counter-measures”.

Maria Zakharova, a Russian overseas ministry spokesman, said anterior to the latest announcement: “If this measurement is ever made, we volition presumption it arsenic escalation, arsenic a measurement toward escalation that would instrumentality things to a absorption that is rather other to addressing the pressing contented of pulling each atomic weapons retired of European countries.

“This signifier and its improvement unit america to instrumentality compensating countermeasures designed to reliably support the information interests of our state and its allies.”

The instrumentality of weapons to the UK is portion of a huge Nato push to make and upgrade atomic sites crossed the satellite successful mentation for a imaginable escalation of fighting.

The Pentagon has not confirmed it is readying to store nukes successful the UK.

A spokesperson said: “The United States routinely upgrades its subject facilities successful allied nations. Unclassified administrative fund documents often travel specified activities.

“These documents are not predictive of, nor are they intended to disclose immoderate circumstantial posture oregon basing details.

“It is US argumentation to neither corroborate nor contradict the beingness oregon lack of atomic weapons astatine immoderate wide oregon circumstantial location.”

Meanwhile, villagers adjacent to the American subject basal successful West Suffolk, fearfulness they could become Vladimir Putin's people if bombs are stored there.

In the lawsuit of World War 3, the American Air Force warplanes based successful the UK would beryllium called in.

But villagers are disquieted that their small assemblage could find itself astatine the centre of a large planetary conflict, with tensions expanding owed to Putin's war with Ukraine and Hamas' onslaught on Israel.

One fumed: ”I fearfulness we volition go 1 of the archetypal targets if this struggle escalates.

"The force volition privation to neutralise immoderate menace coming from the Americans and america and could good onslaught first.

" It doesn’t carnivore reasoning about.

“This is simply a tiny blessed colony and we person got utilized to having the Americans here. "But determination is ever the hazard that if they get progressive successful a warfare successful the Middle East we volition inevitably beryllium drawn successful – and subject bases similar Lakenheath volition go a cardinal people for immoderate enemy.”