The British government announced on Tuesday that it will buy a dozen F-35A fighter aircraft that can fire tactical nuclear missiles in what it called the largest build-up of its nuclear deterrent in a generation.
The acquisition of the Lockheed Martin aircraft would enable Britain’s air force to carry nuclear missiles for the first time since the Cold War, Downing Street said.
“In times of revolutionary uncertainty, we cannot assume peace will always endure, so my government is making a commitment to our national security,” Prime Minister Keir Starmer told a press conference.
Britain is raising defense spending and renewing its military capabilities, including its submarine fleet, as it experiences growing hostility from Russia and as the United States withdraws from its historic position as a protector of European security.
Britain’s government stated the jets would enable it to make so-called dual-capable aircraft available to NATO to deploy nuclear weapons in the event of a war.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte described “this is yet another solid British contribution to NATO.”.
Britain’s nuclear deterrent now depends entirely on the Trident submarine system, which went off target in a test last year, the second year in a row after one went off course in 2016.
Britain’s parliament says the country maintained a standalone air-launched nuclear capability until 1998, when it retired the WE-177 free-fall bomb from service.
Purchasing the F-35A fighter planes would allow Britain to increase its military options and be more aligned with NATO allies like France, and the United States, which retains land, sea, and air-based nuclear forces.
The F-35A fighter planes can carry U.S. B61 tactical nuclear warheads. Britain would probably require the United States to provide those warheads for deployment on the aircraft, according to one unnamed British official.
U.S. Removed Last Nukes from UK in 2008
The last U.S. nuclear weapons were removed from Britain in 2008, as a signal then that the specter of war in the aftermath of the Cold War was fading.
Downing Street stated that the purchase of the new jets would provide the support of around 20,000 jobs in Britain and emphasize its commitment to the NATO alliance.
The government has committed to increasing overall defence and security expenditure to 5% of economic output by 2035 to achieve a NATO benchmark and stated on Tuesday it needs “to actively prepare” for war on British soil for the first time in years.
