A military aircraft was tracked flying between European bases associated with US nuclear weapons storage, prompting speculation that it forms part of logistics to replace or modernise such weapons amid renewed debate after President Trump's announcement on resuming nuclear testing.

The flight designated "RCH458" flew on Sunday from Tacoma Gray Army Airfield in the US state of Washington across the Atlantic and later landed at the American Ramstein Air Base in Rhineland-Palatinate, according to data from Flightradar24.

On Tuesday, it continued from there to Volkel Air Base in the Netherlands, then headed towards Brescia in northern Italy, where the Ghedi military airfield is located. On its way south, the US military aircraft also passed over Luxembourg. The last recorded leg was on Wednesday afternoon, when the aircraft flew from Brescia to Turkey, specifically to Adana in the south of the country, where Incirlik Air Base is situated.

What's noteworthy about these deployments: "RCH458" is the callsign assigned to a USAF Boeing C-17A Globemaster III (reg. 08-8192). ItaMilRadar, a website that monitors military flights in the Mediterranean region, writes that the aircraft belongs to the 62nd Airlift Wing, the only unit authorised to transport nuclear components. There is no official confirmation of this, but the US aircraft's route, taking in military bases said to host US nuclear weapons, suggests the operation forms part of the logistics to replace and modernise US nuclear weapons on European soil.
 
There is currently a lot of movement around the issue of US nuclear weapons. US President Trump's announcement last week that the United States would resume nuclear testing caused a stir worldwide. Exactly what he meant, whether testing weapons systems, as the US already does, or actually returning to live explosive tests, was not made clear.
 
It has, however, long been discussed that US nuclear weapons in Europe are to be equipped with new systems.