Hello and welcome to the details of UK to deploy nuclear-capable F-35A jets in Nato’s biggest deterrence shift in decades and now with the details
Nevin Al Sukari - Sana'a - Flags of Nato and its member states are displayed along The Mall, in front of Buckingham Palace in London April 3, 2024. Britain will reintroduce fighter jets capable of carrying atomic weapons to support Nato’s nuclear mission, expanding the country’s deterrence arsenal, which is currently limited to submarine-launched missiles, Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s office said yesterday. — Reuters pic
LONDON, June 25 — Britain will reintroduce fighter jets capable of carrying atomic weapons to support Nato’s nuclear mission, expanding the country’s deterrence arsenal, which is currently limited to submarine-launched missiles, Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s office said yesterday.
The country will purchase 12 nuclear weapon-capable F-35A fighters, in the “biggest strengthening of the UK’s nuclear posture in a generation”, Downing Street said, adding Starmer would announce the plan at a Nato summit today.
“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,” Starmer said in a statement.
Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte was quoted in the statement as saying: “I strongly welcome today’s announcement,” calling it “yet another robust British contribution to Nato”.
Since the end of the Cold War, British nuclear deterrence within the Atlantic alliance was provided solely by missiles aboard Royal Navy submarines.
At that time, “there was no longer any real interest in tactical nuclear weapons in Europe, because the threat had disappeared,” Heloise Fayet, a nuclear specialist at the French Institute of International Relations (Ifri), told AFP.
She said yesterday’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.
The F-35A, manufactured by US company Lockheed Martin, is a variant of the F-35B already used by the United Kingdom, but which can carry nuclear warheads in addition to conventional weapons.
The acquisition has been a long-standing request from the Royal Air Force.
The planes are expected to be stationed at Marham Air Force Base in eastern England. — AFP
These were the details of the news UK to deploy nuclear-capable F-35A jets in Nato’s biggest deterrence shift in decades for this day. We hope that we have succeeded by giving you the full details and information. To follow all our news, you can subscribe to the alerts system or to one of our different systems to provide you with all that is new.
It is also worth noting that the original news has been published and is available at Malay Mail and the editorial team at AlKhaleej Today has confirmed it and it has been modified, and it may have been completely transferred or quoted from it and you can read and follow this news from its main source.
