UK to buy nuclear-carrying F-35A fighter jets
Prime Minister Keir Starmer unveiled the plan on Wednesday at the NATO summit in the Netherlands, calling it "the biggest strengthening of the UK's nuclear posture in a generation."
The British leader said "With this announcement, we're going further in response to growing nuclear threat. It marks the return of the RAF to nuclear deterrence for the first time in three decades."
Starmer also stressed his country's "unshakable" commitment to the alliance. He said his country will join NATO's shared airborne nuclear mission, which involves allied aircraft in Europe being equipped with nuclear bombs. Seven other countries are part of it, including the US, Germany and Italy.
The UK's nuclear arsenal includes submarine-based missiles. But it phased out air-dropped nuclear weapons after the end of the Cold War.
The purchase is in line with the government's new national security strategy that it released on Tuesday.
In the document, Starmer warned that the British people are facing an "era of radical uncertainty," and he pointed to threats such as Russian aggression and extremist ideologies.
The government said it must prepare for the country "coming under direct threat, potentially in a wartime scenario."
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