Britain wants to purchase fighter jets capable of firing tactical nuclear weapons, in a major expansion of the deterrent intended to counter the growing threat posed by Russia.
Sir Keir Starmer’s government is in highly sensitive talks over the move, which would represent the biggest development in the UK’s deterrent since the Cold War and a recognition that the world has entered a more dangerous nuclear era.
John Healey, the defence secretary, and Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, the head of the armed forces, are looking to acquire American-made fighter jets capable of launching gravity bombs with lower power than conventional nukes.
Starmer has also given his backing and discussions with the Pentagon are believed to have taken place.
The prime minister is preparing to launch the strategic defence review on Monday from a UK dockyard. The review, while not committing specifically to air-launched capabilities, recommends the UK looks at expanding its contribution to Nato’s shared nuclear deterrence in Europe.
In an interview with The Sunday Times, Healey refused to comment on the talks but acknowledged Britain must adapt to the “new era of threat” it faces.
“The world is definitely becoming more dangerous. Nuclear risks are rising,” he said. “We face now, for the first time since the end of the Cold War, seriously increasing risks of state-on-state conflict.”
The review also seeks to put Britain on a prewar footing, recommending sweeping proposals for rearmament and the revival of an “always-on” defence industry. Healey said: “The lesson from Ukraine … is that a country’s armed forces are only as strong as the industry that stands behind them.”
Healey said on Sunday that Britain and Nato must be prepared for a military attack by Russia. He said the strategic defence review would “send a message to Moscow” about Britain’s preparedness to fight.
Speaking on the eve of the review’s publication, Healey told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg: “This is a message to Moscow as well. This is Britain… making our armed forces stronger but making our industrial base stronger, and this is part of our readiness to fight, if required.”
In other developments:
• The government will invest £6 billion on munitions to replenish UK stockpiles, with £1.5 billion earmarked for six new factories that will sustain 1,000 jobs.
• The review will commit to new defensive shields to protect Britain against enemy ballistic missiles.
• It recommends the re-establishment of a civilian home guard to protect national infrastructure.
• It backs a resurgence in shipbuilding, with the Royal Navy wanting to increase the number of destroyers and frigates to 25, up from 14 now.
• A new underwater surveillance programme, known as Atlantic Bastion and overseen by the navy, will guard against Russian sabotage of internet cables and energy pipelines.
• Healey will focus on fixing the armed forces recruitment crisis but is expected to set a longer-term target for increasing the size of the army.
Radakin, who is stepping down as chief of the defence staff in the autumn, is said to view the expansion of the nuclear deterrent as the UK’s biggest defence priority and, in private, has long argued for air-launched capabilities.
Simon Case, the former cabinet secretary and nuclear deterrent expert who stepped down as the country’s top civil servant in December, called on the government last week to invest in a second method of launching nuclear deterrent, in addition to the submarine-based missile system.
He told The General & the Journalist, a new podcast launched by The Times: “Deterrence depends on your adversary being certain that you can do real harm to them in the ultimate case. In my view you wouldn’t rely on a single system for anything. That’s true in many walks of life, let alone nuclear deterrence.”
Senior sources said the UK was looking at procuring Lockheed Martin’s F-35A Lightning stealth fighter jet, which has recently been ordered by the German Luftwaffe, although other types of aircraft are thought to be under consideration.
The jets have a range of 1,400km, longer than other variants of the F-35, and can carry the B61 thermonuclear gravity bomb, the United States’s primary air-dropped bomb from its stockpile of 3,708 nuclear weapons. It has a yield of between 0.3 and 340 kilotons — the first nuclear bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima, dubbed “Little Boy”, had 15 kilotons — and it expected the UK would carry these, rather than its own nuclear weapons, as part of Nato’s nuclear-sharing arrangements.
The aircraft would form a second pillar of the nuclear deterrent, and could be used in a scenario below all-out nuclear war. They could also be deployed on the battlefield — a capability the UK does not possess at present.
Britain previously maintained a stockpile of tactical nukes and a fleet of V-bomber aircraft but these were decommissioned after the Cold War as the UK shifted to the Vanguard submarine programme.
Britain is the only major nuclear power with only one platform from which to launch its nuclear arsenal. The US maintains a nuclear triad — able to launch from land, air and sea — while France, through its force de dissuasion, has both air and sea capability.
Deterring Putin
With President Putin repeatedly threatening nuclear escalation in recent years, there are growing concerns that Moscow could use tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine or on Nato’s eastern front. While the latter would almost certainly provoke conflict with Nato under Article 5 — an armed attack against one member is considered an attack against all — it is unclear whether a limited tactical nuclear strike by Russia would provoke a full nuclear retaliation.
Britain’s military chiefs now believe the UK must be able to wield more tactical nuclear capabilities to deter Putin.
While lower-yield bombs can be launched from British submarines, there are concerns that in such a scenario the Russians or other enemies would not be able to distinguish between tactical nukes and conventional warheads capable of obliterating cities. This miscalculation could tip the world into a full-blown nuclear war.
Instead, having a two-tier nuclear deterrent would mean the UK and its European allies would be able to deliver a clear and limited response to any Russian attack.
Drones to feature heavily in review
In a wide-ranging interview, Healey said the review would ensure Britain was better prepared and would place homeland security, and rearmament, front and centre.
“First and foremost, I wanted Britain to recognise how the world was changing, and then … hardwire that into the way that as a nation we developed and directed our defence and security,” he said.
Of particular importance to Healey is the revival of Britain’s arms industry. The war in Ukraine has highlighted how western weapon stockpiles have been allowed to deplete to unacceptable levels, with production lines unable to replenish the ordnance donated to Kyiv at the speed needed.
Drones, a dominant feature in the Ukraine war, also feature heavily in the review, with significant government investment helping to establish an industry able to rapidly develop and produce the latest models.
This is seen to be needed because in future Britain’s warships, ground troops and aircraft will go into battle with swarms of drones alongside them — and also because, in Ukraine, Kyiv’s forces are required to churn out new drones every few weeks to keep pace with the speed in which Russia is able to deploy new jamming techniques to bring them down.
For Healey, this is not just about “greater innovation and production” but the economy; he sees defence as a vital cog in Starmer’s growth agenda and restoring prosperity to Britain’s former industrial heartlands.
More will follow in a separate defence industrial strategy, with Healey confirming the Ministry of Defence will increase the number of industrial war games it will do to ensure businesses are ready to supply ammunition and equipment at the rate needed in wartime.
He is also committed to resolving the recruitment and retention crisis. The RAF, navy and army have failed to hit their hiring targets every year for a decade.
“What I have not yet done is to reverse the long-run decline,” Healey said: “More people are joining, fewer people are leaving, but there is still a mismatch. We are still losing more full-time military personnel than we’re recruiting every month.”
While he sees this as his “first task”, he has also made it his mission to boost the size of the army after years of hollowing out. For months he has been pushing for a new target of 76,000 full-time troops, up from 72,500 at present. Although he refuses to comment on whether the review commits to this, it is understood that this week he will set a longer-term ambition to raise the target.
Speaking on Sunday, he said that he did not expect to increase the number of people in the armed forces until the next parliament, from 2029 onwards.
He also refused to answer whether the Treasury had committed to boosting defence spending to 3 per cent of GDP by 2034 despite telling The Times on Saturday that he had “no doubt” Britain would be spending that level in the next parliament.
With his son now serving in the army reserves, Healey is also determined that the secondary force of 24,000 part-time soldiers not only grows but is used more effectively. He wants to encourage soldiers leaving full-time service to remain reservists while they seek new careers. “We can create a spectrum of service that allows, through people’s careers, much more flexibility to move between full-time and part-time reservist involvement with the forces,” he added.
The MoD is in the process of identifying potential new locations to dismantle the Vanguard submarines when they are decommissioned and replaced by the Dreadnoughts. This would help free up capacity at Devonport in Plymouth so that it is able to more quickly conduct maintenance and repairs on the in-service fleet.
Tories welcome nuclear air-launch commitment
The previous Conservative government had been pushing to establish a dismantling site at Teesside, with James Cartlidge, when he was defence minister, holding talks on the proposal with Lord Houchen of High Leven, the regional mayor, in May last year.
• Britain will spend 3% of GDP on defence by 2034
Cartlidge, who is now shadow defence secretary, said: “I recently called for our deterrent to be strengthened by diversifying how we deliver nuclear weapons, so I welcome the commitment to reintroduce air-launch capabilities … but there are two big caveats. First, it underlines why 2.5 per cent GDP on defence is unlikely to be enough and we believe the government should commit to spending 3 per cent this parliament, if we are to adequately boost both conventional and nuclear forces.
“Secondly, the priority on nuclear must still be to make our strategic continuous at sea deterrent (CASD) even more resilient. As defence nuclear minister under the last government, the length of CASD patrols was a major concern and HMS Vanguard recently racked up a record 204 days. So I welcome suggestions the government are considering the project I oversaw to expand the industrial footprint of defence nuclear into Teesside. This would be for decommissioning submarines, freeing up space in Devonport to accelerate the deep maintenance periods which contribute to long patrol times.”
Additional reporting by Ramsay Hodgson
