British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced that Britain will buy a dozen F-35A nuclear-capable stealth fighters from the U.S. and join NATO’s nuclear sharing program. “The new fast jets will be based at RAF Marham, with the Government expected to procure 138 F35s over the lifetime of the program,” the prime minister’s office said in a statement issued yesterday. “The purchase represents the biggest strengthening of the U.K.’s nuclear posture in a generation. It also reintroduces a nuclear role for the Royal Air Force for the first time since the U.K. retired its sovereign air-launched nuclear weapons following the end of the Cold War.”
The statement makes no mention of the obvious U.S. role in this new plan. RAF Marham is about 25 km north of RAF Lakenheath, where the U.S. Air Force has recently upgraded the existing nuclear storage bunkers and otherwise made preparations for the return of B61 nuclear bombs to that location. The statement provides no details of the arrangements that will have to be made or to their timing.
The statement quotes Starmer as saying: “The U.K.’s commitment to NATO is unquestionable, as is the Alliance’s contribution to keeping the U.K. safe and secure, but we must all step up to protect the Euro-Atlantic area for generations to come.”
The statement further says: “The Strategic Defence Review recognised that the U.K. is confronting a new era of threat, including rising nuclear risks. It recommended that the U.K. further strengthen our commitment to effective deterrence and our partnership with our NATO Allies, building on our unique role as the only European power to pledge our nuclear deterrent to defend our NATO allies.”
