Fact Check Cyprus finds no evidence of nuclear weapons at RAF Akrotiri

Claims that 56 nuclear weapons are stored at RAF Akrotiri are not supported by available evidence, according to an analysis published by Fact Check Cyprus, which says satellite imagery, Nato security requirements and current British defence policy contradict the allegation.

The claim was made by journalist Andreas Paraschos, who said the website Offsite removed his report regarding the alleged weapons due to insufficient documentation.

Paraschos said he could not reveal his source, citing journalistic confidentiality, and argued that his professional experience supported the credibility of the report.

He also linked the alleged arsenal to recent Nato mobilisation and a US advisory urging American citizens to leave Cyprus.

Fact Check Cyprus said the figure of 56 appears to be an “anachronistic reference” to infrastructure developed during the Cold War rather than evidence of a present-day nuclear stockpile.

Archive material from April 1960 confirms that Akrotiri was designed to support Britain’s nuclear-capable V-Bomber fleet, then the country’s primary strategic strike force.

Runways, hangars and other facilities were built to accommodate aircraft capable of carrying nuclear weapons.

However, Fact Check Cyprus stressed that “the existence of infrastructure does not automatically prove the existence of nuclear warheads”, remarking that nuclear storage requires specialised personnel, strict security protocols and dedicated vault systems.

Britain no longer deploys air-delivered nuclear weapons. with the last such weapon, the WE.177 nuclear bomb, being withdrawn in 1998.

Since then the United Kingdom’s nuclear deterrent has relied exclusively on the submarine-launched Trident missile system carried by Vanguard-class submarine.

According to Fact Check Cyprus, the RAF is no longer operationally certified to deploy nuclear warheads.

The analysis also comments that American nuclear weapons stationed in Europe are limited to six bases across five Nato countries, those being Belgium, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands and Turkey.

At these locations nuclear bombs are stored in underground weapons storage and security system vaults built into hardened aircraft shelters.

These areas are surrounded by double security fencing, watchtowers and autonomous surveillance systems.

Fact Check Cyprus underline that satellite images of hangars along Flamingo Way and Phantom Way at Akrotiri show buildings directly connected to the base’s internal road network and lacking the separate, heavily fortified perimeter required for nuclear storage under Nato protocols.

For comparison, Incirlik Air Base in Turkey, considered the main United States nuclear storage location in the region, holds about 50 B61 bombs, according to the federation of American scientists (FAS).

The base has around 25 specialised underground vaults, clearly visible in satellite imagery because of their distinctive double security perimeter.

“It is practically impossible,” Fact Check Cyprus concluded, “for Akrotiri to host more nuclear weapons than the central Nato base in the region while displaying none of the required storage or security infrastructure.”

The organisation said Akrotiri retains Cold War-era facilities built when nuclear-capable aircraft operated from the base, but modern imagery and current defence doctrine do not support claims that an active nuclear arsenal is present today.

British officials have previously issued similar assurances, with a British defence ministry spokesman said in January 2000 that “there are no nuclear weapons on the British bases in Cyprus”, adding that aircraft using the bases did not carry nuclear arms.

Historical documents released at the time indicated that aircraft stationed at Akrotiri had carried nuclear bombs in 1969.

Former Cypriot president Glafcos Clerides acknowledged then that nuclear weapons may have been stored at the bases in the past but said the Cypriot government had not been formally informed.

“There was a time when there were indications that nuclear weapons were probably present,” Clerides said at the time, adding that “things have changed”.

Fact Check Cyprus said the available evidence supports the conclusion that Akrotiri may have the historical infrastructure linked to Britain’s former nuclear air strategy, but there is no credible indication that nuclear weapons are currently stored at the base.