&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "UK to acquire F-35A jets from US, revive airborne nuclear capability in major NATO shift")
Britain on Tuesday (Jun 24) announced that it would reintroduce fighter jets capable of carrying atomic weapons. Calling it the "biggest strengthening of the UK's nuclear posture in a generation," Downing Street said that the United Kingdom's Prime Minister Keir Starmer would announce the plan at a NATO summit on Wednesday. The UK PM, meanwhile, in a statement, said that the country will acquire 12 F-35A fighter jets capable of carrying atomic weapons from the United States. The move marks a dramatic shift in Britain’s nuclear doctrine, which for decades has relied solely on submarine-launched ballistic missiles for deterrence.
A new era
Keir Starmer, in a statement, said that the "These F35 dual capable aircraft will herald a new era for our world-leading Royal Air Force and deter hostile threats that threaten the UK and our Allies". Praising the announcement, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said, "I strongly welcome today's announcement" and praised the move as "yet another robust British contribution to NATO."
The F-35A jets, built by Lockheed Martin, differ from the F-35Bs currently used by the UK in one key way: they can be armed with nuclear warheads.
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As per reports, they'll be based at Marham Air Force Base in eastern England and are set to bolster NATO’s nuclear sharing strategy — a Cold War-era mission that has gained new relevance with Russia's continued war in Ukraine.
From under the sea to back in the skies
Since the Cold War's end, the UK's nuclear deterrent has lived beneath the waves — carried aboard Royal Navy submarines. Tactical, air-delivered nukes were largely seen as relics of a bygone era.
Talking to AFP, Heloise Fayet, a nuclear expert at France's Institute of International Relations (Ifri) said that at the time, "there was no longer any real interest in tactical nuclear weapons in Europe, because the threat had disappeared".
That, she added, has changed. Fayet said that the UK's announcement illustrates "the continued re-nuclearisation of Europe, the renewed need for nuclear weapons, and the strengthening of NATO's deterrence, in the face of an adversary, Russia", which has been at war with Ukraine for three years.
