For the first time since at least 2005, U.S. nuclear weapons have been deployed on British soil, as multiple B61-12 thermonuclear gravity bombs were reportedly transferred this week from the U.S. Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center at Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico to the newly constructed storage facility at RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk, England. The B61-12 is a precision-guided, low-yield tactical nuclear bomb compatible with several aircraft, including the F-35A Lightning II, which is operated by both the 493rd and 495th Fighter Squadrons stationed at Lakenheath.