The Pentagon and the Energy Department for the first time airlifted a small nuclear reactor from California to Utah, demonstrating what they say is U.S. potential to quickly deploy nuclear power for military and civilian use. The nearly 700-mile flight last weekend — which transported a 5-megawatt microreactor without nuclear fuel — highlights the Trump administration's drive to promote nuclear energy to help meet skyrocketing demand for power from artificial intelligence and data centers, as well for use by the military.
The operation was carried out late on Friday, according to a statement on the Telegram messaging channel. The agency, which is known by its acronym HUR, described it as a "serious blow" to Russia's military logistics. HUR said its forces struck the Koltsevoy pipeline, which spans 250 miles and supplies the Russian army with gasoline, diesel and jet fuel from refineries in Ryazan, Nizhny Novgorod and Moscow.
Well, we have a large army - over 200,000 - and we did provide a brigade for Iraq, where we were in charge of an international division, and a brigade in Afghanistan. But this is different. We are already managing a huge logistical operation. Ninety-five percent of what Ukraine gets goes through Poland. And so this time, we see our usefulness as protecting that operation on our own territory.
Campaigners have called for government "transparency" amid reports the United States Air Force has moved nuclear weapons to a Suffolk airbase, with specific concerns about the deployment. The flight data of a specialist C-17A Globemaster indicates it traveled from New Mexico to RAF Lakenheath last week, raising alarms over nuclear readiness. The situation marks a potential return of nuclear weapons to Lakenheath, the first since 2008, with platform preparations for the B61-12 bomb being evident based on recent documentation and expert analysis.
