RAF Brawdy was believed to be a priority target in the event of nuclear war with the Soviet Union, declassified documents have shown.

Documents from the 1970s, released by the National Archives, detail 106 targets across the UK which military planners believed would be targeted in the event of nuclear exchange.

The targets include major towns and cities, centres of government and a host of military targets, including RAF Brawdy.

A strike of 150 land-launched nuclear missiles could have been expected upon the UK, plus an unknown number of submarine-launched warheads.

RAF bases such as Brawdy would probably have been attacked with 3x1 megaton nuclear warheads.

The list of probable targets was drawn up in May 1972 – before the development of a top-secret US Navy submarine listening facility at Brawdy.

Pembrokeshire military historian John Evans said the nature of Brawdy’s role placed it under threat of attack: “In the 1960s, when Brawdy was a Fleet Air Arm Station, it had a special role linked to the RAF’s V-Bomber force, which then carried the nuclear deterrent,” he said.

“Royal Naval Air Station Brawdy was one of the airfields where individual V-bombers (Vulcans) would be dispersed to.

“This was very likely to be a significant reason for Brawdy being one of the airfields listed.

“Also, in the 1960s Britain had a large Royal Navy surface fleet with several aircraft carriers. RNAS Brawdy was for several years one of the home bases for the squadrons which embarked their aircraft on the carriers so had a front-line role at that time.

“The RAF took over in 1971 and in 1974 the Tactical Weapons Unit (TWU) was formed when Brawdy re-activated as an RAF air base – training pilots who went on to front-line fighter squadrons. It was a major base within the RAF at that time.”

“The US Navy base alongside Brawdy was officially known as an ‘Oceanographic Research Station’. Its roles would no doubt have meant it being listed as a priority target.”

Cold War expert Dr Charlie Whitham, a senior history lecturer at Edge Hill University, agreed.

"The fact that the MoD considered RAF Brawdy as a risk only reinforces the contention that Wales was firmly in the crosshairs of a nuclear confrontation,” he said.

“It is only logical to assume that after the vital US listening station was built at Brawdy in 1974 then Wales would have been especially targeted for its strategic role in defending Europe.

"As the MoD itself recognised, the most likely Soviet strategy would have been a ‘surprise’ attack using nuclear submarines – which is precisely why the Americans wanted to put a sonar station in Brawdy in the first place and why this sleepy village would have doubtless been elevated to a top-priority target.”