US To Expand NATO Air Base To Hold Nuclear-Capable Fighter Jets

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Newsweek

Published Oct 15, 2024 at 7:36 AM EDT


The U.S. will expand an air base in Eastern Europe to house nuclear-capable fighter jets, according to a new report, after years of cultivating closer ties with Hungary under broader efforts to strengthen the NATO alliance's borders with Russia.

British newspaper The Telegraph reported on Monday that government contracts indicate plans are in place to upgrade Kecskemét air base, a Hungarian military facility located to the southeast of the capital, Budapest. The base will likely house U.S.-made F-15 Eagle strike tactical fighter jets, according to the report, with an unknown number of A-10 Warthog close support aircraft and C-5 Galaxy transport planes. The F-15 is certified to carry B61-12 nuclear gravity bombs.

The U.S. has long had a strong presence in Europe, one beefed up after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine got underway in early 2022. NATO has spent the past two years bolstering its eastern flank close to Russia, with Sweden and Finland entering the alliance in a break from long-held neutrality policies. Newsweek has reached out to the Department of Defense for comment via email.

The U.S. is a leading member of the NATO alliance, which has explicitly labeled Russia as the "most significant and direct threat" to its member states, as well as other countries across Europe and across the Atlantic.

Read more: https://www.newsweek.com/us-military-expand-hungary-kecskemet-air-base-russia-nato-1969141

[Dennis Donovan]

1. Did the Cold War ever really end?

Maybe during Boris Yeltsin for a while, but we're back to jockeying nukes around Eastern Europe.

[eppur_se_muova]

2. WAIT A MINUTE ! Isn't Orban a Putin suck-up ? Do we really want to trust him with our nukes within his borders ?

Could one/some of those planes/bombs be 'diverted' ?? Pilots held hostage ?? Sounds potentially very risky to me.

[AZ8theist]

3. Orban stands a less than zero chance of interfering with that base.

But I agree why bolster a Putin dick-licker like Orban? Hungary should be kicked out of NATO and the EU due to his policies.

[LudwigPastorius]

6. U.S. plane-delivered nukes in non-nuclear NATO countries are guarded by U.S. Air Force Munitions Support Squadrons.

The Permissive Action Link codes required for arming them remain under American control. If it was "game on", our nukes would likely be carried by specially adapted Hungarian Saab Gripen C fighters.

[InstantGratification]

4. This is just a response to Russia's nuclear sabre rattling of late

Last edited Tue Oct 15, 2024, 08:16 PM - Edit history (1)

We are reminding them that we have nukes too. It is not necessarily putting any actual bombs in country (yet). It is upgrading the airbase to handle aircraft that are nuclear capable, in this case F-15E Strike Eagles. F-16s are also capable of carrying nuclear free fall bombs.

I would image it would be building hardened aircraft shelters with "vaults" in them. Imagine the kind of security vault you would house a hyper-car in: A solid concrete enclosure in the floor of a garage with a platform underneath and a thick concrete cap on top of it and a lift inside it. Raise the lift, drive the car onto the platform, then lower the platform and the cap is flush with the garage floor. The car is hidden from view in a HIGHLY secure spot. In fact, for those who don't know what they are looking for, it would be easy to walk right across one without knowing what was under your feet.

A similar setup is used at USAF bases that host nuclear capable aircraft. The bombs aren't armed in the vaults, they are just stored there near the aircraft that would carry them. If the need ever arose, a weapons crew would bring an "arming package" (I wasn't a weapons troop, that's probably not what they called it) to the shelter and raising the vault, arming the weapon and setting to the desired yield. If the alert level was high enough, they would actually load the bomb on the aircraft.

The shelter would have security forces in a perimeter around it and more inside guarding the aircraft and bomb. I never saw the vault being accessed or the weapon being armed and loaded, I was never actually inside a shelter while that was going on. I saw the exterior security during exercises and knew enough to keep my distance.

Anyhoo, the upshot of all this isn't that we are moving nukes or nuke capable aircraft into Hungary, it is just reminding Putin that if he keeps up the using nukes talk, we will start upgrading our own nuclear potential in the area by upgrading the airbases near him to handle them. That will be an escalation in Putin's eyes. If the airbase is ready to go, the aircraft can fly in on short notice and the nukes themselves can be airlifted in on short notice. A mach 2 nuclear capable aircraft can be on the ground, armed and standing nuclear alert in a matter of hours after the order is given, once the facilities are ready to host them. Once the alert status is reached, from Hungary, those aircraft could be over Russian targets in minutes.

Remember, Putin's stated excuse for invading Ukraine was to put a buffer on Russia's western flank. This is reminding him that his continuing shenanigans in Ukraine is having the opposite effect.

[sir pball]

5. I think hosting F-15s is less about nuclear capability and more about airspace control.

Yeah, the F-15 is nuke-certified. So are all American multirole aircraft (F-16, F-18, et al.)…not to mention that one Ohio-class submarine can land ten times the warheads of a European airbase, with comparable or better accuracy.

No no, the reason for putting F-15s so close to Red airspace is to ensure we own it in the event of a conflict. The F-15 is one of the most effective and capable air superiority fighters (that was its original design brief) ever – it has a combat record of 104 kills to 0 - ZERO losses. That is not an adversary that any air force wants to face.

[Old Okie]

7. Hungary

Why Hungary of all places; the EU ia almost ready to kick them out and NATO should do the same.

[sir pball]

9. Location, location, location.

Strike Eagles have a combat radius (take off, go fight, and come back) of around 800 miles, and this airbase gives them a good southern location – I'm not sure if it covers southern Ukraine and Crimea but it definitely expands coverage.

The more airspace we can own, the better.

[sl8]

8. The expansion has been been planned at least since 2017.

https://www.airforcetimes.com/flashpoints/2017/12/17/us-plans-200-million-buildup-of-european-air-bases-flanking-russia/