U.S. Air Force F-35A Lightning II jets arrive at RAF Lakenheath, England, Dec. 15, 2021. The F-35A is one of two nuclear-capable aircraft stationed at Lakenheath. A recent report says the Air Force is preparing for the possibility of restoring the nuclear weapons mission at the base. (Olivia Gibson/U.S. Air Force)

STUTTGART, Germany — A U.S. Air Force base in the United Kingdom is being prepared as a potential deployment site for nuclear bombs, a leading atomic policy research group said in a new report.

Three years of budget documentation and observations that include satellite imagery indicate that the U.S. military wants to reestablish a nuclear mission at RAF Lakenheath for the first time in nearly two decades, the Federation of American Scientists said.

“The addition of a large nuclear air base in northern Europe is a significant new development that would have been inconceivable just a decade-and-a-half ago,” according to the report, issued Wednesday.

As of now, there are no indications that nuclear weapons have been deployed to Lakenheath, the report said.

U.S. Air Forces Europe and Africa did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the potential for a nuclear mission at Lakenheath. However, as a matter of policy the U.S. military doesn’t typically discuss the locations of nuclear weapons stored in Europe.

A decision to reactivate the nuclear mission at Lakenheath was likely part of a 2021 posture review that paved the way for various investments at the base, according to the report.

For instance, documents submitted to Congress in 2022 showed that the United Kingdom had been added to a list of countries for upgrades to NATO “special weapons” sites.

Related contracting documents and satellite images of construction work also added to mounting evidence that the nuclear mission would return to Lakenheath, said the federation, which traces its roots to atomic scientists who formed a group in the aftermath of World War II.

Then-U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. CQ Brown Jr. stands with airmen from the 48th Maintenance Group in front of an F-35A at RAF Lakenheath, England, Dec. 21. 2022. According to the Federation of American Scientists, the floor markings indicate the presence of an underground nuclear storage vault. (Olivia Gibson/U.S. Air Force)

Air Force budget materials described the construction of a “surety dormitory” there to accommodate an increase in personnel related to “the arrival of a potential Surety Mission,” the report said.

The term “surety” is typically used by the Defense Department when referring to the safety and security of nuclear weapons, the watchdog group added.

Once relevant construction is completed, the base could receive weaponry for its nuclear arsenal from other locations in Europe, according to the report.

“In the case of a nuclear crisis with Russia, a portion of U.S. nuclear weapons could be redistributed from more vulnerable NATO bases to RAF Lakenheath to improve survivability and complicate Russia’s targeting strategy,” the report said.

The federation’s assessment said the return of the nuclear mission to Lakenheath is most likely intended as a backup rather than a signal of the imminent return of such weapons.

“The change appears to be a direct reaction to the worsening political and military relations with Russia, resulting from its invasions in 2014 and 2022 of Ukraine, frequent nuclear warnings, and Russian deployment of increasingly capable long-range conventional weapons,” according to the report.

The federation has estimated that the U.S. has about 100 B61-12 nuclear gravity bombs stored across six air bases in five NATO countries, including Incirlik Air Base in Turkey.

Over the years, there have been concerns about keeping nuclear bombs at Incirlik given frequent diplomatic tensions with Turkey. A 2016 attempted coup in the country reinforced those concerns.

For many decades, the Air Force also had nuclear weapons vaulted at Lakenheath. However, they were removed around 2007 by President George W. Bush as part of a broader streamlining of the nuclear mission in Europe.

The report said the number of storage vaults being reactivated at Lakenheath appears to be similar to the number of active vaults at Incirlik.