UK Acts Amid 'Growing Nuclear Threat'

The UK says it will soon regain the ability to drop nuclear weapons from the air. With war raging in Europe and the Middle East, the UK announced Tuesday that it would buy "at least" 12 US-made F-35A stealth fighter-bombers, capable of carrying conventional and nuclear bombs, per the BBC. At present, Britain can deliver submarine-launched ballistic missiles. "Adding air capability, as the French also have, will make it easier for Britain to act in the case of a crisis," reports the New York Times. Speaking at a NATO summit in The Hague, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the procurement was in "response to a growing nuclear threat," per the BBC.

A government-issued national security strategy on Tuesday urged active preparations "for the possibility of the UK homeland coming under direct threat, potentially in a wartime scenario," amid "an intensification of great power competition, authoritarian aggression and extremist ideologies," per the two outlets. The UK has already vowed to boost military spending. "In an era of radical uncertainty, we can no longer take peace for granted," Starmer said while vowing to meet the new NATO target of dedicating 5% of GDP to security by 2035.

The purchase of the F-35A jets reintroduces "a nuclear role" for Britain's air force "for the first time since the UK retired its sovereign air-launched nuclear weapons following the end of the Cold War," the government said, per the Times. Downing Street called it "the biggest strengthening of the UK's nuclear posture in a generation," per the BBC. Britain also announced it would join NATO's airborne nuclear mission, with the Norfolk-based F-35A aircraft to be deployed as part of that mission. The US has ultimate control over the release of prepositioned nuclear bombs in Europe, which "may prove contentious with the UK being reliant on the US," per the BBC.