On October 14, the US and Britain and their NATO allies started their annual nuclear war exercise "Steadfast Noon" in Europe following recent statements and threats by the US and Britain aimed at further escalating their Ukraine proxy-war against Russia "without any limits". According to reports more than 60 aircraft are taking part in training flights over western Europe. "Steadfast Noon" runs for two weeks and involves fighter jets capable of carrying US nuclear warheads. They claim it does not involve any live weapons. But these exercises cannot be justified as NATO continues to expand its global wars and nuclear war threat.

The reports say that the exercise "Steadfast Noon" is largely geared towards testing the capabilities and resilience of the alliance-wide nuclear deterrent as carried by the Panavia Tornado, the Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon, and, as of 2023, the F-35A. Other aircraft types, such as the Boeing B-52H Stratofortress, and other roles, such as aerial refuelling tankers and airborne electronic warfare, are also included.

Each of these bases have one or two dozen active vaults (Weapons Storage Security System, WS3) inside as many protective
aircraft shelters. Ramstein airbase in Germany used to be the largest storage site in Europe but only 7 vaults remain
active possibly for training and transfer. All weapons were withdrawn from Lakenheath before 2007 but the United
Kingdom was recently added to the nuclear infrastructure storage modernization program, which means there are now
eight active WS3 sites in Europe. (Federation of American Scientists)

The reports say that the exercise involves 2,000 military personnel from 13 NATO allies operating out of airbases across Belgium and the Netherlands. Mission scenarios will be flown across Danish and UK airspace over land and over the North Sea. It should be noted that, as the BBC reports, in Britain "RAF Lakenheath is currently home to the 48th Fighter Wing, also known as the Liberty Wing, with the latest generation F-35A Lightning II aircraft stationed there. According to the USAF these fighter jets have successfully been flight tested to carry the short-range B61-12 thermonuclear bomb, a tactical weapon designed for the battlefield. Documents detailing a contract awarded to build defensive shelters for RAF Lakenheath's 'upcoming nuclear mission' were published, and then withdrawn, by the US. In addition, millions of dollars have been earmarked to build a facility known as a 'surety dormitory' at the base, which is understood to be storage facilities for nuclear weapons, according to a US Department of Defence budget." [1]

This claim that the exercise "Steadfast Noon" is largely geared towards "testing the capabilities and resilience of the alliance-wide nuclear deterrent" is the biggest lie that can no longer be hidden. This is especially so since the Anglo-US all out support and arming of Israel to carry out genocide in Gaza. These days so called "detente" no longer exists and no one can trust that the Anglo-US warmongering elite and their global interests are not capable of provoking Russia or China into a nuclear war and mass exterminations, just as they are now supporting the daily massacres of thousands of men, women and children in Gaza, the West Bank and now Lebanon. According to reports, "Steadfast Noon" means aircraft are to rehearse dropping B61 and B61-12 "tactical" thermonuclear bombs on Europe, each of which is up to 20 times more powerful than the weapon that the US dropped on Hiroshima in World War II, killing as many as 126,000 civilians.

The Steadfast Noon exercise will practice employment of non-strategic nuclear weapons, like this unarmed B61-4 nuclear gravity bomb dropped by an F-15E from the 48th Fighter Wing at RAF Lakenheath. Image: Sandia National Laboratories.

Even the claim that these nuclear exercises in Europe "are routine", when NATO now admits that they previously took place in secret, is a lie. The name "Steadfast Noon" was only declassified some six years ago. There is nothing routine about these exercises; they are not aimed at peace but at nuclear war and are not even in accordance with the UN Treaty on nuclear disarmament adopted by 122 countries which legally came into force on January 22, 2021 [2].

Only three of NATO's 30 allies have nuclear weapons - the US, Britain and France - with Britain being the main nuclear ally of the US, since France plays no direct role in NATO's nuclear "deterrence" and is not part of the alliance's secretive Nuclear Planning Group.

Peace-loving people all over the world demand an end to the global warmongering and nuclear war escalation. The security of the peoples of Europe and the world cannot be settled by escalating such conflicts in Ukraine and in the Middle East. The role played by the US, Britain, NATO and their proxy ruling elites in Israel and Kyiv must be identified as the real threat to peace. The escalation of wars in Ukraine and the Middle East is creating an ever more dangerous situation [3]. In these circumstances, the working class and people must continue to fight for peace and for the necessity of an anti-war government.

No to NATO! Yes to Peace!

Notes
1. Are US nuclear weapons set to return to RAF Lakenheath? BBC News, February 18 2024
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-suffolk-68217519
2. UN Treaty on the prohibition of nuclear weapons
The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons was adopted by the Conference (by a vote of 122 States in favour, with one vote against and one abstention) at the United Nations on July 7, 2017, and opened for signature by the Secretary-General of the United Nations on September 20, 2017. Following the deposit with the Secretary-General of the 50th instrument of ratification or accession of the Treaty on October 24, 2020, it entered into force on January 22, 2021, in accordance with its article 15.
https://www.un.org/disarmament/wmd/nuclear/tpnw/#:~:text=The%20Treaty%20on%20the%20Prohibition%20of%20Nuclear%20Weapons%20was%20adopted,Nations%20on%2020%20September%202017
3. A report by Politico on President of Ukraine Zelenskyy, when he finally released his "victory plan" on October 16 to the Ukrainian Parliament, writes: "Ukraine proposes to deploy on its soil a comprehensive non-nuclear strategic deterrence package that will be sufficient to protect Ukraine from any military threat from Russia... The exact weapons were not revealed by Zelenskyy in his speech to parliament, but he said leaders in the US, Germany, France and the UK know Kyiv's asks." Previously in 2022 Zelenskyy had called on NATO to carry out "pre-emptive" nuclear strikes against Russia.

(Sources: Janes, Reuters and NATO)

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