Deployment of the WS3 system was authorized in 1988,<ref name=chronology /> and they were in widespread use by 1995.
215 WS3 vaults were built for the [[United States Air Forces in Europe]] at 13 sites in seven countries. Additionally 34 WS3 vaults were built for the [[Royal Air Force]] to store the [[WE.177]] nuclear bomb; 10 at [[RAF Brüggen]] in Germany and 24 at [[RAF Marham]] in Britain.<ref>{{citation|url=http://thebulletin.metapress.com/content/82558p4j65585158/fulltext.pdf|title=U.S. nuclear weapons in Europe, 1954–2004|author=Robert S. Norris and [[Hans M. Kristensen]]|date=November/December 2004|publisher=Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists|accessdate=2009-06-11}}</ref>
