Over 100 Demonstrate against Lakenheath Nuclear US Base

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Over 100 Demonstrate against Lakenheath Nuclear US Base

US Military Bases in East Anglia

Scottish Parliament Motion Opposes US "Supergun" Testing

Green MSP Says No to Supergun Tests

On Sunday, October 5, over 100 people gathered at USAF Lakenheath in Suffolk to demonstrate in protest against the presence of US nuclear weapons at the base.

There are around 30 US nuclear weapons deployed at Lakenheath (although the authorities refuse to deny or confirm their presence). These weapons can be truly and accurately described as weapons of mass destruction, of indiscriminate killing and of lethal contamination of the environment. The Lakenheath Action Group, whose initiative the demonstration was, points out that these weapons are illegal under international law. At the Non-Proliferation Treaty Review in 2000, the nuclear weapons states, including the US and Britain, made an "unequivocal undertaking ... to accomplish the total elimination of their nuclear arsenals". The disarmament has neither begun nor has a timetable been set. 

Lakenheath is the primary US tactical airbase in Europe. Apart from the British nuclear submarine base at Faslane, these are the only nuclear weapons in Britain, and they are totally under US control. The Lakenheath nuclear weapons form part of NATO's arsenal.

Lakenheath aircraft played an active part in the bombing of Iraq over the last twelve years, including the recent aggression against and occupation of Iraq. Planes from the 48th fighter wing of the US Air Force, based at Lakenheath, attacked Iraq in 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1999 and again in 2003. It was also from Lakenheath that US planes took off in 1986 to bomb Libya.

This was the third year in a row that a demonstration has been held at the base. Actions have also taken place there over a number of decades, and in the 1980s there was a peace camp set up at Lakenheath.

The actions took place in the context of the "Keep Space for Peace Week", the international days of protest, October 4-11, to stop the militarisation of space. The number of actions have at least doubled over the past three years, under the umbrella of the Global Network against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space. Events have been organised at key US installations and embassies, and this particular week was chosen to coincide with the pro-space development "World Space Week" that annually promotes the aerospace industry agenda for space

Very striking cultural performances also took place during the Lakenheath action, for example a group of classical string players and a group of folk musicians. Two of the violinists were only eight or nine years old, and they performed superbly. A brilliant amateur theatre company put on a performance exposing the American nuclear weapons policy. There were also a number of poets. Half a dozen speeches were also made

A Citizens Weapons Inspection Team taped off the main entrance declaring that it was a scene of crime. This is the second year in which the police have closed the main entrance. Normally it has very heavy traffic, even on Sunday, so the effect on the base has been quite substantial.

On the morning of Monday, October 6, groups of international and local peace activists cut through the perimeter fence to draw attention to the illegal nuclear weapons that are deployed at USAF Lakenheath. The trespass was part of the International Citizens' Inspection of nuclear bases in Europe.

Lakenheath Action Group reports that an international group of six people were arrested for criminal damage after entering the base, where they had intended to carry out a citizens weapons inspection. They are from Malta, Austria, France, Belgium and England.

A second group of four local activists, whose ages range from 32 to 64, entered the base at 08.30 am and began to symbolically reclaim the base for peaceful purposes by planting a peace flag on base soil and sowing wild flower and tree seeds. They were arrested for criminal damage to the perimeter fence.

Davida Higgin, from Norfolk, of the Lakenheath Action Group has also been arrested.

Mell Harrison, one of the locals who entered the base, a youth worker from Bungay, said: "We feel that it is not us breaking the law, but the US at Lakenheath, for holding these illegal weapons of mass destruction with a stated first strike policy against non-nuclear states. Nuclear weapons and their aftermath are indiscriminate and illegal under international law. This base should be reclaimed for peaceful purposes"

Anu Korhonen, from Finland, legal support for the international citizens weapons inspection team, said: "We have travelled to USAF Lakenheath to search for evidence of weapons of mass destruction. We are appalled at the hypocrisy of the United States, who are willing to go to war over unconfirmed reports of WMD in Iraq, whilst they maintain their own illegal nuclear weapons at Lakenheath and threaten to use them."

The Lakenheath Action Group website quotes the Nuremberg War Crimes Tribunal of 1945: "Individuals have international duties which transcend the national obligations of obedience ... Therefore [individual citizens] have the duty to violate domestic laws to prevent crimes against peace and humanity from occurring."

US Defence Department property in Britain totals $4.8 billion. There are around 12,000 US military personnel in the whole of Britain. The complex of Lakenheath, Mildenhall and Feltwell is overwhelmingly the largest concentration in Britain of US military personnel. The total of US military personnel, US Defence Department personnel and families is something like 30,000, with quite a large proportion of housing within that local district.

During the 1980s, Britain earned the reputation of being the US’s "unsinkable aircraft carrier". Tactical naval nuclear weapons stored in Britain were allocated for use by Dutch forces as well as British and American. Today the sole remaining base used to store US nuclear weapons is RAF Lakenheath although RAF Mildenhall and RAF Feltwell in East Anglia also play important roles in the US nuclear weapons and "Star Wars" programmes. The following information is taken from the website of the Lakenheath Action Group.

RAF Lakenheath

RAF Lakenheath, located 20 miles northeast of Cambridge, is two miles from the village of Lakenheath. The base has always been the primary and most important tactical nuclear bombing base in Europe, hosting long-range F-111 fighter bomber aircraft through the early 1990’s, and today, hosting the F-15E Strike Eagle. The Weapon Storage and Security System (WS3) vaults at Lakenheath reached initial operational capability on November 19, 1994. Thirty-three are operational. Each bunker can hold up to two B-61 tactical nuclear weapons, with an explosive yield of between 0.4 and 80 kilotons.

Established by the RAF in November 1941 as a satellite base of RAF Mildenhall, it was closed for expansion from May 1944 to April 1947 and then allocated for US use in July 1948. The 2d Bomb Group of the Strategic Air Command (SAC) arrived with B-29 bombers in August 1948. On January 16, 1951, when six B-36 bombers made their first deployment to Europe, Lakenheath was the host.

The initial US unit at Lakenheath was the 7504th Base Completion Squadron assigned January 17, 1949. The Squadron was elevated to an Air Base Group (ABG) on January 28, 1950 and to a Wing (ABW) on September 26, 1950. When the base was formally transferred to SAC on April 28, 1951, it was placed under the 3909th ABG, which was activated May 16, 1951. The 3909th moved to RAF Greenham Common in 1954 and was replaced by the 3910th ABG, redesignated a Combat Support Group (CSG) on January 1, 1959 and inactivated January 1, 1960. SAC returned RAF Lakenheath to USAFE control on October 1, 1959 as part of Operation "Red Richard," and the 48th Tactical Fighter Wing (TFW) arrived from Chaumont AB in France on January 15, 1960.

The 48th Fighter Wing received two USAF nuclear surety plaques in 1994, one "for demonstrating outstanding capability to support a nuclear airlift mission" and the other "for distinguished performance." The Wing again received a USAF Nuclear Surety Plaque in 1995 for "outstanding achievements" and "contributions" to nuclear security. That year, an officer within the 48th Equipment Maintenance Squadron received the USAF Lt General Leo Marquez Award for outstanding munitions maintenance. The citation stated that the officer "led the squadron and wing to an `Excellent’ rating on their Joint Defence Nuclear Agency and Headquarters United States Air Forces in Europe Nuclear Surety Inspection and then initiated a cross-functional wing working group to address the wing’s conversion to the Weapons Storage and Security System". In 1996, the Wing was again recognised when it won the Department of Defence Phoenix Award as the most exceptional maintenance unit in the DOD.

RAF Mildenhall

RAF Mildenhall is a staging post for the US flights to Europe. This includes the nuclear weapons based in Europe under the NATO nuclear sharing agreement.

RAF Feltwell

As part of the US Space Surveillance Network, RAF Feltwell hosts the US 5th Space Surveillance Squadron – which operates under the US Space Command's 21st Space Wing.

The base is home to part of the USAF Deep Space Tracking System (DSTS) and the Near Space Facility, vital parts of the early warning and missile tracking technology necessary for US Missile Defence.

An emergency motion for the restart on September 1 of the Scottish Parliament calls on Jack McConnell, the Scottish First Minister, to apply pressure on the Ministry of Defence to suspend the planned trials at the Dundrennan firing range of a US "supergun" to be carried out in secrecy.

The fact the weapon was to be tested in Scotland only leaked out when it was mentioned by the Pentagon's leading military scientist, Mike Andrews, to delegates at a military conference in Washington. He told them the system was ready, but had not yet been used at full power, adding: "Probably the only place in the world we can do that is Kirkcudbright."

The motion has been tabled by Member of the Scottish Parliament Chris Ballance, of the Green Party. Angus Robertson, Scottish National Party foreign affairs spokesman, has also promised to raise the trials at the Westminster House of Commons in the first defence debate.

South of Scotland MSP Chris Ballance also wants the issue to be debated at Holyrood, though the issue of defence is "reserved" to Westminster.

It was reported in August that the British government has renewed a contract with the US military for use of the Dundrennan firing range near Kirkcudbright, Dumfries and Galloway. The tests are understood to involve firing an experimental electro-magnetic gun (EMG) which can launch a shell at 7500-mph and destroy a tank more than five miles away.

The EMG, also known as a "rail gun", has been under secret development by the US for almost 30 years, with Britain acting as a junior partner. The gun uses magnetic coils to create a pulse of energy which can hurl a projectile at more than two miles per second. BAe Systems, the biggest military monopoly in Britain, is involved in its development.

The fact that secret US tests were to be carried out on Scottish soil has never been announced or admitted by the MoD, raising fears that there may be some hidden safety or environmental reason for not conducting them on the 25,000 square kilometres of firing ranges available to the US military in their own country.

Alasdair Morgan, the SNP MSP for the south of Scotland, said: ''It's bizarre that Dundrennan should be chosen unless there's something to hide. It's not as if the US has a shortage of test sites. The MoD must come clean on this now."

Residents near the Dundrennan range have already fought a long campaign against MoD test-firing of conventional DU tank rounds which have created radioactive pollution in the Solway Firth, with the fear that cancers have been caused as a result.

Dumfries and Galloway Council has published parts of a letter from the MoD which the authority received after asking for an "update" on the trials. The letter to the council refers to the MoD's "long-standing project agreement" with the US Army for the joint development and testing of electromagnetic launcher system technology. "This agreement has resulted in sustained investment in the electro-magnetic launch facility at Kirkcudbright (Dundrennan), and a programme of testing dating back to 1993," its reads.

Member of the Scottish Parliament Chris Balance said: "I am appalled to discover that plans are well advanced to allow the US military to use the range at Dundrennan to test fire their latest supergun," said Mr Ballance. "And I am profoundly angered that we should have learned of the plan, not from our own government, but from an American military scientist.

"Who authorised this? Why weren't we told, far less consulted by our own government? Is there anything that this government will not do to ingratiate itself with the USA? Increasingly it seems that the Blair government's idea of the much vaunted 'special relationship' is to do what the Americans want, when they want it and never mind the consequences for its own people. It's bad enough that Scotland is already a nuclear dumping ground for the UK military. Now it's all set to become Uncle Sam's shooting alley.

"It is patently absurd to suggest, as Mike Andrews of the US military did, that Kirkudbright is probably the only place in the world to do full-scale testing on this weapon. Let them fire their shells into the Pontiac, not the Solway, if they are so keen to have new and better ways of killing people.

"There is nothing in this for the people of south-west Scotland, and potentially there is much to lose. We are going to need a strong co-ordinated local and national campaign to stop this outrageous proposal in its tracks and to protect the Solway and the livelihood of the many people who depend on it."

"I will be putting down a Parliamentary motion in respect of this and I would expect that motion to draw widespread support from across the chamber."

S2M-248 Mr Chris Ballance (South of Scotland) (Green) :  Test Firing of Electro-magnetic Gun at Dundrennan Army Range— That the Parliament condemns the decision by Her Majesty’s Government to invite the United States of America to test fire its experimental electro-magnetic gun at the Dundrennan army range; regrets the failure by the Ministry of Defence to consult with local people in respect of this decision, and calls on the First Minister to initiate a consultation process with local people and to write to the Secretary of State for Defence requesting that he revoke access to the Dundrennan range by the United States until the results of this consultation process are known and are given due consideration.

Supported by: Mark Ballard, Mr Mark Ruskell, Miss Frances Curran, Ms Carolyn Leckie, Mr Stewart Maxwell, Ms Sandra White, Ms Rosemary Byrne, Ms Rosie Kane, Tommy Sheridan, Mr Robin Harper, Patrick Harvie, Mr Colin Fox, Mr John Swinburne, Shiona Baird, Dr Eleanor Scott, Mr Alex Neil, Mrs Elaine Smith, Marlyn Glen, Christine Grahame

Lodged on 04 August 2003; current