Weapon storage areas (WSA), also known as special ammunition storage (SAS), were extremely well guarded and well defended locations where NATOnuclear weapons were stored during the Cold War era.
In most situations, the WSA or SAS areas were located inside the perimeter of an army barracks or an air base in NATO territory, but in a few cases they were located deep inside wooded areas and miles away from a military base.
Due to changes in the political landscape, the number of special weapons in Europe has been drastically decreased. Moreover, the introduction of the WS3 Weapon Storage and Security System has made WSAs obsolete.
At present, few WSAs are still operational as modern day special weapons are stored in the floors of concrete aircraft shelters and placed under 24/7 electronic surveillance.
The Defence Forces of Georgia, or Georgian Defence Forces (GDF), are the combined military forces of Georgia, tasked with the defence of the nation's independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity. They consist of the Land Force, Air Force, National Guard, and Special Operations Forces. The Defence Forces are under overall leadership of the Minister of Defence of Georgia and directly headed by the Chief of Defence Forces.
A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. The term “submarine” is also sometimes used historically or informally to refer to remotely operated vehicles and robots, or to medium-sized or smaller vessels. Submarines are referred to as boats rather than ships regardless of their size.
In nuclear strategy, a first strike or preemptive strike is a preemptive surprise attack employing overwhelming force. First strike capability is a country's ability to defeat another nuclear power by destroying its arsenal to the point where the attacking country can survive the weakened retaliation while the opposing side is left unable to continue war. The preferred methodology is to attack the opponent's strategic nuclear weapon facilities, command and control sites, and storage depots first. The strategy is called counterforce.
An airbase, sometimes referred to as a military airbase, military airfield, military airport, air station, naval air station, air force station, or air force base, is an aerodrome or airport used as a military base by a military force for the operation of military aircraft.
Royal Air Force Machrihanish or RAF Machrihanish is a former Royal Air Force station located near the town of Machrihanish and 3.5 miles (5.6 km) west of Campbeltown, at the tip of the Kintyre peninsula, Argyll and Bute, in Scotland.
The South African Navy (SA Navy) is the naval warfare branch of the South African National Defence Force.
The Norwegian Armed Forces is the military organization responsible for the defence of Norway. It consists of five branches, the Norwegian Army, the Royal Norwegian Navy, which includes the Coast Guard, the Royal Norwegian Air Force, the Home Guard, and Norwegian Cyber Defence Force as well as several joint departments.
Although the Netherlands does not have weapons of mass destruction made by itself, the country participates in NATO's nuclear weapons sharing arrangements and trains for delivering US nuclear weapons. These weapons were first stored in the Netherlands in 1960.
Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach is a United States Navy weapons and munitions loading, storage and maintenance facility located in Seal Beach, California, with detachments in Fallbrook and Norco, both also in California. It also encloses the Seal Beach National Wildlife Refuge.
The Russian commando frogmen, informally called "commando frogmen" in civilian media, are a Russian Naval Spetsnaz unit under operational subordination to the Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU). It is the special forces unit of the Russian Naval Infantry and is composed of highly trained and elite marines within the Naval Infantry. By virtue of belonging to the Russian Naval Infantry, frogmen fall under the Coastal Troops of the Russian Navy service arm. The Russian Navy proper does not field any special forces or special operations units. Russian FSB special forces Alpha Group and Vympel also have frogman units in their respective naval components.
The Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic (SACLANT) was one of two supreme commanders of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), the other being the Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR). The SACLANT led Allied Command Atlantic was based at Norfolk, Virginia. The entire command was routinely referred to as 'SACLANT'.
Olavsvern is a decommissioned Royal Norwegian Navy base located just outside the city of Tromsø. It is located along the European route E8 at the entrance to the Ramfjorden from the Balsfjorden.
Dispersal is a military practice of dispersing or spreading out potentially vulnerable military assets, such as soldiers, aircraft, ships, tanks, weapons, vehicles, and similar equipment of an army, navy, or air force. Its primary objective is to minimise any potential effects of collateral damage, from incoming munitions such as artillery, bombs and missiles. Dispersal increases the number of artillery rounds needed to neutralise or destroy a military unit in proportion to the dispersal of the said unit. If a division doubles the area it takes up, it will double the number of artillery rounds needed to do the same damage to it. As more targets are spread out or dispersed, more artillery and / or bombs are required to hit all the individual targets.
Weapons Storage and Security System (WS3) is a system including electronic controls and vaults built into the floors of Protective Aircraft Shelters (PAS) on several NATO military airfields all over the world. These vaults are used for safe special weapons storage, typically of tactical B61 nuclear bombs. Historically the system was also called within NATO the Weapon Security and Survivability System (WS3) or Weapons Survivability and Security System.
The South African Naval Museum is a maritime museum in Simon's Town, South Africa. It contains collections and artefacts related to the maritime history of South Africa and the South African Navy.
Ammunition is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. Ammunition is both expendable weapons and the component parts of other weapons that create the effect on a target.
Naval museum complex Balaklava is an underground submarine base in Balaklava, Crimea. It was a top-secret military facility during the Cold War, located in Balaklava Bay.
Aircraft cavern, a calque of the German word Flugzeugkaverne, is an underground hangar amongst others used by the Swiss Air Force.
Naval Support Activity Charleston, originally designated Naval Weapons Station Charleston, is a base of the United States Navy located on the west bank of the Cooper River, in the cities of Goose Creek and Hanahan South Carolina. The base encompasses more than 17,000 acres (69 km2) of land with 10,000 acres (40 km2) of forest and wetlands, 16-plus miles of waterfront, four deep-water piers, 38.2 miles (61.5 km) of railroad and 292 miles (470 km) of road. The current workforce numbers more than 11,000 with an additional 3,600 people in on-base family housing.
Flesland Air Station was a military air base situated at Flesland in Bergen, Norway. Part of the Royal Norwegian Air Force (RNoAF), it shares a 2,990-meter (9,810 ft) runway with Bergen Airport, Flesland. The air station has since 1999 had a mobilization status and is only staffed by six employees. Its main structure is a subterranean hangar with space for 25 fighter jets.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
