Weapon storage area

This article does not cite any sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Weapon storage area" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (November 2014) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Weapon storage areas (WSA), also known as special ammunition storage (SAS), were extremely well guarded and well defended locations where NATO nuclear 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.