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Why Britain must expand its nuclear arsenal

Why Britain must expand its nuclear arsenal

Spectator10-05-2025

About once a month, the Royal Air Force scrambles Typhoon fighters for something called a Quick Reaction Alert (QRA). Typically, two Russian nuclear-capable bombers approach Scotland, the RAF aircraft shadow them closely and, at a suitably theatrical moment, the Russians turn away. The episode merits a tiny press release from the Ministry of Defence.
What most people don't realise is that the Russian aircraft often open their bomb doors, revealing missiles which may, or may not, contain nuclear warheads; and that they line up on specific targets: city centres, nuclear power stations, airports, or other strategic places.
Russia is continuously demonstrating its preparedness to cause mass death on the British mainland. And, unlike the British, who douse all utterances about nuclear matters in copious sangfroid, the Russian state media revels in atomic gruesomeness.
'The explosion of this thermonuclear torpedo by Britain's coastline,' threatened one Russian TV host in 2022, 'will cause a gigantic tsunami wave.

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