Latest news with #nuclearcapability
Sky News
6 hours ago
- Politics
- Sky News
UK to buy F-35 stealth jets that can carry US nuclear warheads
The UK will buy at least 12 F-35 stealth jets that can carry nuclear warheads in the most significant strengthening of its nuclear capability in a generation, the government has said. Today, Sir Keir Starmer will tell a summit of NATO allies in The Hague that the new squadron will join an alliance mission that can be armed with US nuclear weapons. The dramatic move will doubtless draw condemnation and concern from Russia and China. But it comes at a time of growing global insecurity - and as the prime minister and his European and Canadian counterparts scramble to convince Donald Trump they are serious about bolstering their ability to defend Europe, instead of overly relying on the US. The US president, a long-standing NATO sceptic, raised questions about whether he would uphold the alliance's founding Article 5 principle - that an attack on one is an attack on all - before he even arrived in the Dutch city last night. 0:36 An urgent need to keep Mr Trump on side has prompted NATO allies to agree to increase spending on defence and national resilience to a new target of 5% of GDP by 2035. As part of this push to rearm, Sir Keir will give the Royal Air Force the ability to carry airborne nuclear warheads for the first time since the 1990s. "In an era of radical uncertainty we can no longer take peace for granted," he said. "These F-35 dual capable aircraft will herald a new era for our world-leading Royal Air Force and deter hostile threats that threaten the UK and our allies. "The UK's commitment to NATO is unquestionable, as is the alliance's contribution to keeping the UK safe and secure, but we must all step up to protect the Euro-Atlantic area for generations to come." 1:05 It was not immediately clear when the F-35 jets would be bought or how much they will cost, but the new squadron will be part of a NATO-led nuclear deterrence mission. That is in contrast to the UK's national nuclear deterrence, based on a fleet of four nuclear-armed submarines, though they too are used to defend the whole of the alliance. Mark Rutte, the head of NATO, applauded the plan - saying: "The UK has declared its nuclear deterrent to NATO for many decades, and I strongly welcome today's announcement that the UK will now also join NATO's nuclear mission and procure the F-35A. "This is yet another robust British contribution to NATO." Aircraft operated by a small number of NATO countries, including Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands, are cleared to carry US-provided nuclear weapons in a war. The RAF and the Royal Navy already operate F-35B jets that can fly off Britain's two aircraft carriers, but they are not equipped to drop nuclear warheads. The new planes will be the F-35A variant, operated by the air force, that take off from land but can fly further and be armed with nuclear or conventional weapons. The government said they would all be based together at RAF Marham in Norfolk. The government has long planned to purchase a total of 138 F-35 aircraft, but has so far only acquired around three dozen - seven years since the first jets entered service. The decision to purchase 12 of the A-variant does not mean extra aircraft. It just means a diversification in the fleet - something the RAF has long been pushing for - though it's a decision some in the Royal Navy have long pushed back against, believing it would reduce even further the number of the B-version that operate from their carriers. 2:38 The government described the plan to purchase nuclear-capable aircraft as the "biggest strengthening of the UK's nuclear posture in a generation". Defence Secretary John Healey said a major defence review published earlier in the month highlighted new nuclear risks. "It recommended a new UK role in our collective defence and deterrence through a NATO-first approach," he said. However, the public version of the Strategic Defence Review stopped short of making any specific recommendation. It merely said "the UK must explore how to support the US and its NATO allies in strengthening extended deterrence across the Euro-Atlantic". Lord George Robertson, the lead author of the review, in fact signalled a lack of enthusiasm in such a move. "Yes, we considered it," he told MPs. "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." Lord Robertson was defence secretary between 1997 and 1999. Pressed by the Defence Select Committee earlier this month on whether the concept had been ruled out entirely, Lord Robertson added: "We said it should be the subject of further discussion. We didn't rule it out." The F-35 aircraft is made by the US defence giant Lockheed Martin, but the British defence company BAE Systems is also a key contributor.
Sky News
11 hours ago
- Politics
- Sky News
In dramatic move, UK to buy F-35 stealth jets that can carry US nuclear warheads
The UK will buy at least 12 F-35 stealth jets that can carry nuclear warheads in the most significant strengthening of its nuclear capability in a generation, the government has said. Today, Sir Keir Starmer will tell a summit of NATO allies in The Hague that the new squadron will join an alliance mission that can be armed with US nuclear weapons. The dramatic move will doubtless draw condemnation and concern from Russia and China. But it comes at a time of growing global insecurity - and as the prime minister and his European and Canadian counterparts scramble to convince Donald Trump they are serious about bolstering their ability to defend Europe, instead of overly relying on the United States. The US president, a long-standing NATO sceptic, raised questions about whether he would uphold the alliance's founding Article 5 principle - that an attack on one is an attack on all - before he even arrived in the Dutch city last night. 0:36 An urgent need to keep Mr Trump on side has prompted NATO allies to agree to increase spending on defence and national resilience to a new target of 5% of GDP by 2035. As part of this push to rearm, Sir Keir will give the Royal Air Force the ability to carry airborne nuclear warheads for the first time since the 1990s. "In an era of radical uncertainty we can no longer take peace for granted," he said. "These F-35 dual capable aircraft will herald a new era for our world-leading Royal Air Force and deter hostile threats that threaten the UK and our allies. "The UK's commitment to NATO is unquestionable, as is the alliance's contribution to keeping the UK safe and secure, but we must all step up to protect the Euro-Atlantic area for generations to come." 1:05 It was not immediately clear when the F-35 jets would be bought or how much they will cost, but the new squadron will be part of a NATO-led nuclear deterrence mission. That is in contrast to the UK's national nuclear deterrence, based on a fleet of four nuclear-armed submarines, though they too are used to defend the whole of the alliance. Mark Rutte, the head of NATO, applauded the plan - saying: "The UK has declared its nuclear deterrent to NATO for many decades, and I strongly welcome today's announcement that the UK will now also join NATO's nuclear mission and procure the F-35A. "This is yet another robust British contribution to NATO." Aircraft operated by a small number of NATO countries, including Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands, are cleared to carry US-provided nuclear weapons in a war. The RAF and the Royal Navy already operate F-35B jets that can fly off Britain's two aircraft carriers, but they are not equipped to drop nuclear warheads. The new planes will be the F-35A variant, operated by the air force, that take off from land but can fly further and be armed with nuclear or conventional weapons. The government said they would all be based together at RAF Marham in Norfolk. The government has long planned to purchase a total of 138 F-35 aircraft, but has so far only acquired around three dozen - seven years since the first jets entered service. The decision to purchase 12 of the A-variant does not mean extra aircraft. It just means a diversification in the fleet - something the RAF has long been pushing for - though it's a decision some in the Royal Navy have long pushed back against, believing it would reduce even further the number of the B-version that operate from their carriers. 2:38 The government described the plan to purchase nuclear-capable aircraft as the "biggest strengthening of the UK's nuclear posture in a generation". Defence Secretary John Healey said a major defence review published earlier in the month highlighted new nuclear risks. "It recommended a new UK role in our collective defence and deterrence through a NATO-first approach," he said. However, the public version of the Strategic Defence Review stopped short of making any specific recommendation. It merely said "the UK must explore how to support the US and its NATO allies in strengthening extended deterrence across the Euro-Atlantic". The F-35 aircraft is made by the US defence giant Lockheed Martin, but the British defence company BAE Systems is also a key contributor.
ABC News
5 days ago
- Business
- ABC News
Financial markets weigh up conflict
Samantha Donovan: Investment analysts say the Israel-Iran conflict is seeing an uneasy calm on global financial markets. AMP's Shane Oliver helps manage billions of dollars for the superannuation firm AMP. He's told our business correspondent David Taylor that calm could disappear if Iran decides to close the Strait of Hormuz, a critical sea passage for the world's oil supply. Shane Oliver: The financial markets seem fairly relaxed about things. There was the initial knee-jerk reaction a week or so ago when the news struck that Israel had hit targets in Iran and that Iran was retaliating. So, you saw this initial knee-jerk reaction. Oil prices sort of rose from about $68 a barrel to $74 or thereabouts. Share markets came down a bit. Ever since then, they've sort of been treading water waiting to see what happens. Of course, at the back of everyone's mind, there's always this fear that we're going to see a rerun of what happened in 1973 or 1979. But most of the time, that doesn't happen. This time around, though, there's probably a bit more nervousness simply because Iran has potentially getting closer to nuclear capability, nuclear weapons capability, and of course, Israel is determined to wipe that out. So that's why the situation is a lot more tense this time around. But I think investors are still thinking, well, maybe it'll turn out OK and be a non-event. David Taylor: When Donald Trump says via the White House press secretary that he's simply going to make it as he wants an extension for two weeks, he's going to make a decision within two weeks or at the end of two weeks, you're the ANP's strategist for a lot of money, a lot of investments. When you hear something like that, what's your thought? Is your thought that he's stalling or is your thought that markets simply just have to wait day by day as to what's going to happen next? Shane Oliver: Yeah, I guess his eyes done a very good job in terms of Iran, got the situation to a point where they can almost wipe out Iran's nuclear capability. And so maybe he should take that point. On the other hand, he worries that it could just lead to a worse situation, retaliation by Iran against shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20 per cent of global oil supplies flow on a daily basis, and that it might bog the US down in a longer-term conflict. So the fact that he's thinking about it, I think, is a good sign. By the same token, it may just be giving more time for Iran to come to the party and surrender unconditionally. So it could be about that. Or alternatively, it could just be giving more time for the Israelis and the US to prepare the situation to go into trying to take these strikes. But the fact that it's not happening rashly, I think, is a good thing that he is thinking about it. So that gives me a little bit of comfort. And that's, I think, why share markets have ended the week, at least in the Australian time zone, reasonably in a reasonably calm mode. You haven't seen this sort of freefall that might have occurred if we'd gotten up in the morning and found that the US had struck Iran. David Taylor: But I guess that's a possibility still. Shane Oliver: It's still out there. It's still a possibility. I mean, the best outcome for everyone is Iran comes to the table and says, yeah, we're going to negotiate. We'll give you clear access to inspect nuclear facilities to make sure that we're not building nuclear weapons. That's probably the best outcome for everyone. The situation in the Middle East settles down. Oil prices fall back to where they were a few weeks back. And we move on to the next thing, back to focusing on tariffs. But it looks like we could be in for a period of uncertainty regarding this, not only whether the US will act, but when they do, how Iran then responds. And this could take some time before it's finally resolved. And then if Iran does respond and disrupt shipping, they don't have to block the whole of the Strait of Hormuz. They just have to provide enough of a threat to stop shipping going through there. Then how long it takes for the Americans to clear the situation again and remove the threat. And all of that could take quite a while. Samantha Donovan: That's AMP's Head of Investment Strategy, Shane Oliver. He was speaking with our business correspondent, David Taylor.
