Latest news with #Vanguard-class
Glasgow Times
01-08-2025
- Politics
- Glasgow Times
More than 100 to attend peace vigil at Faslane naval base
The event will take place outside HM Naval Base on the Clyde (Faslane) at the south gate on Maidstone Road from 10.30am to 12pm on Saturday, August 2. It will mark the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan during the Second World War. Read more: 'Large helicopters' to take over skies in army exercise The gathering is organised by Justice and Peace Scotland and led by senior figures from Scotland's three largest Christian churches. Participants will include the Most Rev William Nolan, Catholic Archbishop of Glasgow and Bishop-president of Justice and Peace Scotland; Rt Rev Rosie Frew, moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland; and the Most Rev Mark Strange, primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church. They will be joined by representatives from the Quakers, the Iona Community, the United Reformed Church and other faith groups. The event will include prayers and reflection on the 'immorality of possessing nuclear weapons' amid ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and Eastern Europe. Organisers warn the risk posed by the UK's 'soon-to-be upgraded and expanded' nuclear arsenal is greater than in recent memory. Archbishop Nolan said: 'The phrase 'never again' gained much currency 80 years ago. 'But the actions of nuclear powers, including our own, run contrary to that. 'As the late Pope Benedict articulated, the very concept of a nuclear deterrence has instead fuelled an arms race as those on opposing sides keep seeking to outdo the other. 'We have seen this in the replacement for Trident. 'Deterrence itself, therefore, has increased insecurity and does nothing to build up trust which is necessary to encourage disarmament and build up peace.' HM Naval Base Clyde, located on the Gare Loch near Helensburgh, is home to the Royal Navy's four Vanguard-class submarines, which carry [[Trident]] 2 D5 nuclear missiles. These weapons are estimated to be 80 times more powerful than those dropped on Japan in 1945. Read more: Army veteran credits Paisley support centre with helping him rebuild confidence Rt Rev Rosie Frew said: 'On the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, it seems right to stand with other Christians saying no to nuclear weapons and yes to peace. 'My hope and prayer is to live in a world without war or the threat of war, a world without the threat of the deployment of nuclear weapons. 'I know opinion is very divided on holding nuclear weapons but I don't believe anyone would ever wish them to be deployed, both those who will gather outside and those who serve in HM Naval Base Clyde. 'The Church of Scotland stands in solidarity with all those who work at Faslane in the service of the United Kingdom, while praying for peace in a world where there is no threat of nuclear weapons ever being used.'
Daily Record
21-07-2025
- Politics
- Daily Record
British nuclear sub commanders given note on what to do if WW3 breaks out
PM writes four identical letters that are handed to the commander of each of the UK's Vanguard-class submarines The commanders of the UK's nuclear submarine fleet each hold a handwritten note from the Prime Minister, outlining instructions in the event of the country's leadership being obliterated. These 'letters of last resort', which are torn up and rewritten with every change of PM, instruct the Trident submarine crew on what to do if the government falls due to a nuclear attack or pandemic. The UK's nuclear deterrent is solely based on the submarine-launched ballistic missile system deployed across its four Vanguard-class submarines operating on a continuous at-sea deterrent. Each submarine is equipped with up to 40 deployed Trident D5 warheads, weighing 59,000 kg and capable of delivering multiple devastating 475Kt yields to any target within range of 7,000 miles and can remain submerged for months at a time. These formidable deterrents, which cost £5.8billion each to build when adjusted for inflation, stretch to 491 feet in length and all contain a chilling, handwritten command from the Prime Minister should a nuclear conflict break out, reports the Express. The notorious Last Resort Letters are torn up and rewritten each time a new Prime Minister is elected, and their contents are shrouded in mystery. No official letter has been seen by the public, but their existence has been confirmed by military officials. The four Vanguard-class submarines: Vanguard, Victorious, Vigilant and Vengeance, carry identical letters containing instructions on what to do if the British government and its successors are wiped out by a nuclear attack. As reported by BBC Radio 4 and The Guardian in 2016, these letters, penned by the sitting Prime Minister, present a list of options for the submarine's crew of over 130 members. Reportedly, the options include: "Put yourself under the command of the United States, if it is still there", "Go to Australia", "Retaliate", or "Use your own judgement". However, only the author knows the chosen option. Historian Peter Hennessy, in his book 'The Secret State: Whitehall and the Cold War', explains that the submarine commanders would determine whether the British government had fallen by conducting checks, including seeing if BBC Radio 4 was still broadcasting. The Vanguard vessels are due to be replaced within the next ten years by the upgraded Dreadnought fleet, which will also carry the Trident D5 nuclear deterrent. Construction of these four replacements is currently in progress, with the first expected to be ready in the 'early 2030s' while the current deterrent continues to patrol the world's oceans. Although the location of the patrolling vessels is classified, HMNB Clyde (Faslane) serves as the primary base for the Vanguard class and is also home to the Royal Navy's submarine service. Fortunately, up to now, no commanding officer has had to open a Last Resort Letter and long may this continue to be the case.
Canada News.Net
27-06-2025
- Business
- Canada News.Net
UK to Acquire F-35A Jets to Reinforce Nuclear Deterrent
The United Kingdom has announced plans to purchase 12 F-35A fighter jets from the United States-aircraft capable of carrying nuclear weapons. The move marks the most significant expansion of Britain's nuclear capabilities in a generation, as the country prepares to diversify its deterrent beyond its longstanding reliance on nuclear-armed submarines. At present, the UK's nuclear posture is based solely on its fleet of four Vanguard-class submarines. With the new acquisition, for the first time since the post-Cold War defence cutbacks of the 1990s, the Royal Air Force will once again play a direct role in the nation's nuclear strategy. The announcement was timed to coincide with the NATO summit held in the Netherlands. Prime Minister Keir Starmer framed the decision as a dual message: an enhancement of national security, and a reaffirmation of the UK's steadfast role in NATO at a time when nuclear risks are on the rise. ?In a time of growing global instability, we must recognize that peace can no longer be taken for granted,? Starmer said. ?This investment reflects my government's clear commitment to our national defence.? He underscored the UK's unwavering loyalty to the NATO alliance and its shared responsibility to safeguard the Euro-Atlantic region in the years ahead. The F-35A aircraft are part of NATO's dual-capable aircraft (DCA) programme, designed to support the deployment of US nuclear bombs in Europe. Only a handful of alliance members-such as Germany and Belgium-currently possess the necessary jets and trained crews to fulfill this role. Britain's decision to join their ranks significantly strengthens NATO's collective deterrence. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte offered a warm endorsement of the plan, calling it a ?robust and welcome? contribution from the UK. While the exact timeline for delivery of the F-35As has yet to be confirmed, the British government has stated that the aircraft will be based at RAF Marham in Norfolk-already a hub for the UK's existing fleet of F-35B stealth fighters. This development also comes amid a broader push by European NATO members to ramp up defence budgets. Concerns over Russian aggression, paired with uncertainty surrounding the long-term US military commitment to Europe, have accelerated discussions about self-reliance within the alliance. A key point on the summit's agenda was a proposed pledge for NATO members to increase defence spending to 5% of GDP by 2035, a target promoted in part to satisfy US President Donald Trump's repeated demands for greater European burden-sharing. Though widely supported by some members, the proposal has met resistance. Spain has criticized the goal as unrealistic, while Belgium has indicated it is unlikely to meet the threshold. Against this backdrop, Britain's commitment to acquiring nuclear-capable aircraft is not just about hardware-it signals a broader strategic shift and a determination to maintain a strong and flexible deterrent in a more dangerous world.
Spectator
26-06-2025
- Politics
- Spectator
Why does Starmer want to grow Britain's nuclear arsenal?
The government published its National Security Strategy 2025 earlier this week, a strange pushmi-pullyu document building on some policy reviews and anticipating others. It is disappointing and unfocused. The national security strategy was accompanied by an announcement perhaps just as significant: the government will buy at least 12 Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning strike fighters which are 'dual capable', that is, they can deliver both conventional and nuclear weapons. These aircraft will give the Royal Air Force a nuclear role for the first time since 1998, and the UK's nuclear capacity will no longer be reliant on the Royal Navy's Vanguard-class ballistic missile submarines. Keir Starmer has a peculiar and unsettling enthusiasm for the UK's nuclear deterrent This is significant in all sorts of ways: militarily, conceptually and in terms of doctrine and planning. There are currently nine states with nuclear weapons and the UK is alone in having a single method of delivery, the Trident II submarine-launched ballistic missile. By buying F-35As capable of carrying B61-12 tactical nuclear bombs, Britain can join Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy and Turkey in contributing to Nato's nuclear sharing arrangement. Here is the detail, however, and its attendant devil. Nato currently has around 100 of these bombs: they are all owned by the United States and could only be used with the permission of the alliance's Nuclear Planning Group and the American president. There is no suggestion that the UK is likely to develop its own tactical nuclear weapons. Its F-35s would join similar aircraft from Germany, Italy and the Netherlands, as well as ageing F-16 Fighting Falcons from Belgium and Turkey, in being available to conduct nuclear strikes. The new aircraft will operate from RAF Marham in Norfolk; the existing fleet of F-35Bs are also based at Marham but deploy operationally on the two Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers, which the new F-35As cannot do. (The F-35A is also incompatible with the RAF's Voyager tanker aircraft so will be unable to refuel in-flight.) The government is not acquiring a sovereign capability here. The aircraft can be used for non-nuclear roles as well, of course, but it would be odd to choose to buy a small number of a different variant from the rest of the force if it was not intended for a specific purpose. We are buying into a nuclear club: helping our allies, certainly, but also paying for a better table, at a cost of around £80 million per aircraft. These are secondary issues. The more concerning argument is that Nato is strengthening its tactical nuclear capability in order, presumably, to provide a stronger deterrent against Russian or other aggression. President Vladimir Putin has threatened repeatedly to use tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine, and the logic seems to be that we must be able to match him. Downing Street described the plan to buy the F-35A aircraft as 'the biggest strengthening of the UK's nuclear posture in a generation'. This is self-evidently true: our policy since at least the end of the Cold War has been to provide leadership on non-proliferation, maintaining a minimum credible deterrence and ruling out using Trident as a first-strike weapon. Now, without any visible heart-searching or hesitancy, the government has decided that the geopolitical situation requires more, not fewer, nuclear weapons, so that it can deliver, in Starmer's words, 'peace through strength'. There is an argument that low-yield tactical nuclear weapons are de-escalatory, providing more options for varying circumstances and preventing the immediate resort to more powerful warheads. I am sceptical. Surely it is just as possible that tactical weapons would lower the nuclear threshold, which lies less between tactical and strategic nuclear weapons and more between conventional and nuclear warfare. Smaller tactical weapons are in some ways intended to make 'going nuclear' more, not less, likely. This is all theoretical. A nuclear weapon has not been used in anger for nearly 80 years, since the 21-kiloton 'Fat Man' bomb was dropped on Nagasaki on 9 August 1945. (The maximum yield of a merely tactical B61-12 bomb is sixteen times that of 'Fat Man'.) What targets would we deem justifiable for tactical weapons? Armoured formations, warships, military installations, infrastructure? What casualties would we see as regrettable but necessary? And once the nuclear threshold is crossed, how do we get back? Keir Starmer has a peculiar and unsettling enthusiasm for the UK's nuclear deterrent. He brandishes its power and necessity with such muscularity that it sometimes feels like overcompensation for Labour's unilateralism which was set aside nearly 40 years ago. The lead author of the Strategic Defence Review, Lord Robertson of Port Ellen, told Parliament's defence committee that acquiring tactical nuclear weapons was not absent from its recommendations by chance. The fact that it's not there indicates that we weren't terribly enthusiastic about it. When I was defence secretary the last time round, I got rid of the free-fall bombs. To modify a catchphrase from the 2010 general election, which feels like a lifetime ago, I agree with George.
News18
25-06-2025
- Business
- News18
UK Had No Jets To Drop Nukes For Almost 20 Years, 12 F-35As From US Will Change That
This move marks a significant change in the UK's nuclear capabilities. For over two decades, the country's nuclear deterrent has been delivered solely by its four Vanguard-class submarines, which carry Trident missiles. The new jets would give Britain an air-based nuclear option for the first time since the late 1990s, when the RAF retired its last nuclear-capable aircraft following the end of the Cold War era. Britain's shift in nuclear strategy points to growing concerns over Russia and Europe's continued dependence on US weapons to keep Moscow in check. With fears of a more inward-looking Trump presidency, some European countries are now rethinking how to strengthen their own nuclear defences. The UK's new F-35A fighter jets will be added to NATO's nuclear mission in Europe. Countries like Germany and the Netherlands already fly jets that can carry US nuclear bombs, but any use of these weapons would need approval from both the US president and NATO. For now, the UK does not plan to build its own air-launched nuclear missiles, officials speaking to the Wall Street Journal said. 'This is a robust British contribution to the alliance," NATO's secretary-general Mark Rutte was quoted as saying by the newspaper. The UK's plan to buy Lockheed Martin's F-35A fighter jets was announced alongside a pledge to raise defence spending to 5% of GDP by 2035, in coordination with NATO allies. The move is also seen as an attempt to address pressure from former US President Donald Trump, who has long criticised European nations for not doing enough to fund their own security.
