Secret Air Force report says US nuclear arsenal in Europe is poorly guarded

The US nuclear weapons stockpile in Europe is a shadow of its Cold War-era self, a few hundred devices where there used to be 7,000 or so. But the Federation of American Scientists has obtained a classified Air Force blue ribbon panel report prepared in February 2008 that suggests the security of these remaining nukes is in serious doubt.

The UK press has done a good job of tracking the story in the past couple of days. In Thursday’s Guardian (London), Julian Borger writes:

"The report, which was ordered after the US air force lost track of six nuclear cruise missiles last August, found that ‘support buildings, fencing, lighting and security systems’ were in need of repair.

"In some cases, it was found that conscripts with less than nine-months experience were being used to guard the nuclear weapons. Elsewhere private security guards were used to protect the bombs. The report recommends that the US nuclear arsenal in Europe be consolidated to "reduce vulnerabilities at overseas locations". That would involve the withdrawal of significant numbers of US nuclear weapons from Europe."…

"The leaked review has triggered a political storm in Germany, where the Social Democrats, a partner in the governing coalition, this week called for the removal of all nuclear weapons from the country as a result of the findings. But the Christian Democratic Union, of Chancellor Angela Merkel, has argued against making any quick decisions…

"The air force review was triggered by an incident in August last year when six cruise missiles with nuclear warheads were flown across the US, from North Dakota to Louisiana, by mistake. The B-52 bomber that took them was supposed to have taken unarmed cruise missiles. The warheads sat unguarded for 30 hours before their absence was noticed.

"As a result of the inquiry, the US air force chief of staff and the air force secretary resigned earlier this month."

After Borger’s story was filed, Damien McElroy of the Telegraph (London) reported that the US has already removed the 110 or so nuclear missiles it kept at the RAF Lakenheath base in Suffolk, a move that was never announced publicly. It appears there are now around 240 US nukes at six European bases; see the chart at right.

More: Read the leaked Air Force report at the Federation of American Scientists site (PDF file), or read the FAS summary account.