London intends to invest more than $20.3 billion over the coming years in a nuclear warhead modernisation programme as part of a “blueprint for change” to be unveiled by Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday, the UK Ministry of Defence said.
The U.K. now has only sea-based nuclear assets. The Royal Navy has four Vanguard-class strategic nuclear submarines, each capable of carrying 16 US-made Trident II D5 intercontinental ballistic missiles. The missiles are simultaneously equipped with British nuclear warheads. In total, there are 260 of them in the British arsenal.
Earlier, The Sunday Times, citing high-ranking sources, reported that London is considering the purchase of stealth fighters of the fifth generation F-35A Lightning US-made stealth fighters capable of carrying nuclear bombs.
According to them, the British defence establishment is already discussing the issue with the Pentagon. The range of the aircraft is 1.4 thousand kilometres, which is more than other variants of the F-35. In October 2023, the F-35A fighters were certified in the United States to carry the B61-12 thermonuclear bomb.
The publication notes that if realised, such a move would be the largest development of the UK’s nuclear forces since the end of the Cold War.