America could move weapons stored on British soil if the UK allows Huawei to build its 5G network, a US senator has warned. Tom Cotton, the Republican senator for Arkansas who was called as a witness before the Defence Select Committee, warned that the case for America keeping some US Air Force assets, such as F-35 fighters, in the UK could be weakened if it goes ahead with Huawei, as it would pose a security risk. “We have to make a decision about deploying those [F-35 fighters] to many countries,” Senator Cotton said. “Obviously if you no longer have Huawei in your network then F-35 fighters can be based in your country under my legislation. “That does not mean I would drop my legislation… my legislation is about Huawei and the threat Huawei poses to our airmen and our aircraft.” He added that allowing Huawei in UK infrastructure could “give PLA [China’s People’s Liberation Army] hackers a window into our military logistics operations”, which he said could put US forces and American weapons systems based in England “at dangerous risk”.
