 Mastodon called for the deployment of two squadrons of eight Handley Page Victors to Tengah and one of eight Avro Vulcans to Butterworth . The British nuclear stockpile consisted of only 53 nuclear weapons in 1958 , most of which were of the old Blue Danube type , but plans called for 48 of the new , lighter Red Beard tactical nuclear weapons to be stored at Tengah when they became available , so each V bomber could carry two . Up to 48 Red Beards were secretly stowed in a highly secured weapons storage facility at RAF Tengah , between 1962 and 1971 , for possible use by the V bomber force detachment and for Britain 's military commitment to SEATO . 
