3 days ago
Top Gun! British fighter jets will soon carry nuclear weapons for the first time ever as part of biggest defense expansion since the Cold War
British fighter jets will soon carry nuclear weapons for the first time as part of biggest defense expansion since the Cold War.
Sir Keir Starmer is looking to purchase several fighter jets capable of firing tactical nuclear weapons.
The sensitive talks include Defence Secretary John Healey and Admiral Sir Tony Radakin who are looking to buy US fighter jets capable of launching gravity bombs with lower power than conventional nuclear weapons.
The decision is backed by the prime minister and talks with the Pentagon are under way according to The Times.
The news comes as Sir Keir is readying himself to launch a strategic defence review on Monday from a dockyard.
He is expected to expand the UK's nuclear deterrence and its contribution to NATO but will not commit to specific capabilities.
Mr Healey has insisted the Government will reach its target of hiking defence spending to three per cent GDP by 2034.
It comes after the Government previously set out a goal to reach the target during the next Parliament, after meeting its promise of increasing spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP by April 2027.
However the Defence Secretary has promised a 'certain decade of rising defence spending', according to The Times, and said there was 'no doubt' the UK would meet its target.
Mr Healey told the newspaper: 'It allows us to plan for the long term. It allows us to deal with the pressures.'
The Government is looking at the roles, capabilities and reforms required by UK armed forces as part of its strategic defence review (SDR).
It will explore 'deliverable and affordable' solutions 'within the resources available to defence within the trajectory of 2.5 per cent'.
Earlier this year, Sir Keir announced the targets, where he said 'increasing the resilience' of Britain was 'vital' 'in an ever more dangerous world.'
'In an ever more dangerous world, increasing the resilience of our country so we can protect the British people, resist future shocks and bolster British interests, is vital,' he said
The new defence money will be found by reducing UK overseas aid from 0.5 per cent to 0.3 per cent of GNI (gross national income), according to the Government.
This move was one , which prompted then-international development minister Anneliese Dodds to resign.
'You have maintained that you want to continue support for Gaza, Sudan and Ukraine; for vaccination; for climate; and for rules-based systems,' she told the Prime Minister.
'Yet it will be impossible to maintain these priorities given the depth of the cut.'
NATO heads of government are set to meet in The Hague, in the Netherlands, next month.
Addressing the alliance's parliamentary assembly in Dayton, USA this month, NATO secretary-general Mark Rutte said he assumed The Hague would agree 'on a high defence spend target' of 5 per cent.
A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said: 'This Government has announced the largest sustained increase to defence spending since the end of the Cold War - 2.5 per cent by 2027 and 3 per cent in the next parliament when fiscal and economic conditions allow, including an extra £5 billion this financial year.
'The SDR will rightly set the vision for how that uplift will be spent, including new capabilities to put us at the leading edge of innovation in Nato, investment in our people and making defence an engine for growth across the UK - making Britain more secure at home and strong abroad.'
