This information was classified until 2019. The mystery was revealed after a committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of NATO member countries presented a report “A new era of nuclear deterrence? Modernization, arms control and allied nuclear forces”. This document contained information on the location and type of nuclear weapons that the United States stores in Europe. Subsequently, the document, prepared by Canadian Senator Joseph Day and posted on the Internet, was edited, removing classified information, but all interested persons had already managed to get acquainted with it.
It turned out that the bombs were deployed at six airbases in five countries: in Germany (Büchel), Italy (Aviano and Gedi), Belgium (Kleine Brogel), the Netherlands (Volkel) and Turkey (Incirlik). Special underground warehouses were built there for them. Their peacetime protection is provided exclusively by the US military.
According to nuclear weapons expert Hans Christensen, each European base has about 20 bombs, while Turkey has 50.
It should be noted that the United States began to deploy its nuclear arsenal on the territory of its allies as early as the 1950s; at the height of the Cold War, there were more than 7,000 such weapons in Europe. Since then, the volumes have decreased significantly (the process began after the signing of the Soviet-American Treaty on the Elimination of Medium and Short-Range Missiles), but this has little to do with the end of the confrontation between the United States and the USSR. So, the Americans removed nuclear weapons from the Ramstein base only in 2007. Previously, it was also stored at the Nervenich and Spangdahl bases in Germany, at the Lakenheath base in Great Britain, Araxos in Greece , Myurted and Balıkesir in Turkey. At all of these points, nuclear bomb storage facilities remained and, in theory, they can be reused.
To determine where US tactical nuclear weapons may be located, another sign may be used. There must be fighters capable of carrying such bombs. These include the Tornado GR4, F-15E, F-16A/B, F-16C/D and F-35A Lightning II, which the United States intends to deploy in Europe. Also, the corresponding certificate can be obtained by F / A-18F, which Germany plans to purchase.
Potentially, Romania and Poland can also become a storage location for US bombs. After the deterioration of relations between Ankara and Washington, the United States explored the possibility of redeploying the B61 from the Incirlik base to Romania, but it is not known whether these plans have been implemented. As for Poland, Warsaw itself offered such an opportunity to the Americans. Several bombers capable of carrying nuclear bombs are already based in the country on a rotational basis.
By the way, not only the US military, but also the countries where they are stored are preparing to use nuclear weapons in the event of a conflict. The pilots regularly carry out sorties with fake bombs under the bellies of the fighters.
But the Americans are actively controlling the infrastructure. Thus, air force squadrons stationed at the Italian Aviano base regularly fly to Syria, Libya, and it was from there that NATO planes took off to bomb Yugoslavia, the Iraq and Afghanistan.
