UK F-35 buy paves way for a return to warplane-based nuclear deterrent

THE HAGUE, Netherlands — The United Kingdom is expected to buy 12 F-35A fighter jets, marking a significant boost to the country’s nuclear deterrence posture, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said.

Announced ahead of the NATO summit held in The Hague, the government called the acquisition “the biggest strengthening of the UK’s nuclear posture in a generation.”

The new procurements will allow Britain to “join NATO’s nuclear mission” by reintroducing to the Royal Air Force so-called dual-capable aircraft: airframes that can carry both conventional and atomic payloads.

Seven other NATO countries, including the United States, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Turkey, Greece and Italy, currently operate such platforms.

France also has dual-capable aircraft, though these platforms operate solely under the country’s national authority.

The NATO-wide airborne nuclear mission involves European partner countries delivering American B-61 nuclear bombs on behalf of the alliance in the case of an outbreak of nuclear war.

Under the agreement, even though the bombs are carried by European planes and European pilots, the U.S. would have the final command over the nuclear bombs’ control and release.

The United Kingdom already has a fleet of F-35Bs, a different variant of the aircraft that has short takeoff and vertical landing, or STOVL, capabilities.

London is in the process of completing its first procurement batch of 48 F-35Bs, with over 30 having already been delivered. The F-35A, by contrast, can carry more weapons and has a greater range than its STOVL counterpart.

In total, Britain will purchase 138 F-35s throughout the duration of the program.

Since 1998, when the last of Britain’s air-dropped atomic bombs were decommissioned, the United Kingdom’s nuclear deterrence has relied exclusively on the nuclear-tipped missiles continuously deployed at sea aboard the Royal Navy’s Vanguard-class submarines.

The country has recently initiated a major overhaul of its nuclear posture, investing in the development of a new kind of nuclear warhead, replacing its submarine fleet by the turn of the decade and working to reestablish nuclear fuel autarky. The upgrade is slated to cost tens of billions of pounds.

American nuclear bombs have not been stationed in the UK since 2008, but the latest announcement all but confirms their return.

Observers had pointed out apparent preparations for the re-deployment of American nuclear bombs in recent years: The UK was added to NATO’s list of nuclear weapons storage locations expected to receive upgrades under a multimillion-dollar infrastructure program, and U.S. Air Force budget documents from 2023 used language suggesting the construction of a nuclear bomb storage site at RAF Lakenheath.

The UK government, meanwhile, has said the new jets will be based at RAF Marham.

Prime Minister Starmer said that in his estimation, “an era of radical uncertainty [in which] we can no longer take peace for granted” made these measures necessary.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte “strongly welcomed” London’s decision to join the airborne nuclear mission, adding that “this is yet another robust British contribution to NATO.”

At the NATO summit in the Netherlands in late June, allies agreed to a substantial increase in defense spending of 5% of gross domestic product, Rutte confirmed after a vote of the 32 member countries at The Hague.

Linus Höller is Defense News' Europe correspondent and OSINT investigator. He reports on the arms deals, sanctions, and geopolitics shaping Europe and the world. He holds master’s degrees in WMD nonproliferation, terrorism studies, and international relations, and works in four languages: English, German, Russian, and Spanish.

荷兰海牙——英国首相基尔·斯塔默表示，英国预计将购买 12 架 F-35A 战斗机，这将显著提升该国的核威慑态势。

在海牙举行的北约峰会之前宣布的这项采购，被英国政府称为“一代人以来英国核态势的最大加强”。

新的采购将使英国能够“加入北约的核任务”，方法是将所谓的双用途飞机重新引入英国皇家空军：这种飞机既可以携带常规载荷，也可以携带原子弹载荷。

包括美国、德国、比利时、荷兰、土耳其、希腊和意大利在内的其他七个北约国家目前都在运营此类平台。

法国也拥有双用途飞机，但这些平台完全由该国的国家权力管辖。

北约全境空中核打击任务是指在核战争爆发时，由欧洲伙伴国家代表北约投放美国B-61核弹。

根据协议，即使炸弹是由欧洲飞机和欧洲飞行员携带，美国仍将拥有对核弹的控制和释放的最终指挥权。

英国已经拥有一支F-35B机队，这是该型飞机的一个不同型号，具备短距起飞和垂直降落（STOVL）能力。

伦敦正在完成首批48架F-35B战斗机的采购，其中30多架已经交付。相比之下，F-35A的武器携带量更大，航程也比其短距/垂直起降（STOVL）版本更远。

整个项目期间，英国总共将购买 138 架 F-35 战斗机。

自 1998 年英国最后一批空投原子弹退役以来，英国的核威慑力量完全依赖于皇家海军先锋级潜艇上持续部署在海上的核弹头导弹。

该国近期启动了一项重大的核态势调整计划，投资研发新型核弹头，计划在本十年末之前更换其潜艇舰队，并致力于重建核燃料自给自足能力。这项升级计划预计耗资数百亿英镑。

自 2008 年以来，美国核弹就没有部署在英国，但最新的声明几乎证实了它们将重返英国。

观察人士指出，近年来美国似乎正在为重新部署核弹做准备：英国被列入北约核武器储存地点名单，预计将根据一项耗资数百万美元的基础设施计划进行升级；2023 年美国空军预算文件使用的措辞表明，将在英国皇家空军莱肯希思基地建造核弹储存场。

与此同时，英国政府表示，这些新战机将部署在马勒姆皇家空军基地。

英国首相斯塔默表示，在他看来，“我们身处一个充满极端不确定性的时代，和平不再是理所当然的”，因此采取这些措施是必要的。

北约秘书长马克·吕特“强烈欢迎”伦敦决定加入空中核打击任务，并补充说“这是英国对北约的又一项有力贡献”。

在6月下旬于荷兰举行的北约峰会上，盟国同意大幅增加国防开支，增幅为国内生产总值的5%。鲁特在海牙32个成员国投票后证实了这一消息。

林努斯·霍勒是《防务新闻》的欧洲记者和开源情报调查员。他报道影响欧洲乃至全球的军火交易、制裁和地缘政治。他拥有大规模杀伤性武器不扩散、恐怖主义研究和国际关系三个硕士学位，并精通英语、德语、俄语和西班牙语四种语言。