On 24th June 2025, the UK government has announced that it will purchase 12 US-made F-35 stealth fighter jets, which are expected to carry American nuclear weapons, thereby joining NATO’s airborne nuclear mission.
While NATO has “strongly welcomed” the announcement, Medact unequivocally denounces this development which is more likely to inflame than soothe international insecurity, and further the decline of the already severely weakened Arms Reduction measures.
Instead, we should pursue renewed diplomatic efforts to re-establish confidence building measures and counter the self-destructive policy of nuclear deterrence advanced by nuclear militarists. The return to airborne delivery systems for so-called ‘tactical’ nuclear weapons – which the UK abandoned in 1998 – marks a dangerous shift in nuclear posture and further expands the UK’s commitment to nuclear deterrence policies.
At the moment the UK’s so-called ‘deterrent’ is limited to just one patrolling Vanguard class submarine carrying eight American ballistic missiles which between them have about 40 UK-made but American-design influenced warheads each with about 100 kiloton equivalents of explosive – about 6 times more powerful than the atom bombs dropped in Japan in 1945.
The B12-61 weapons carried by the F-35 bombers are ‘dual purpose’ variable, conventional, or nuclear missiles with four different explosive yields, of 0.3 kilotons (kt), 1.5kt, 10kt and 50kt. They will not be made in the UK, but could be deployed for ‘tactical’ use which many military strategists warn could nevertheless escalate to an ‘all-out’ nuclear exchange. We know that the result of using even one nuclear missile on an urban area would lead to deaths, severe injuries, acute radiation sickness, and long-term impacts of radiation exposure such as cancer and genetic damage.
Prime Minister Starmer stated: “In an era of radical uncertainty we can no longer take peace for granted, which is why my government is investing in our national security, ensuring our armed forces have the equipment they need and communities up and down the country reap the benefits from our defence dividend.” He also described the beneficial effects on employment. However, any UK operation involving these developments would be effectively driven by the American government.
In addition, the transfer of American know-how and material to the UK contravenes Article I of the NPT, which says “nuclear-weapon states pledge not to transfer nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices to any recipient”.
We should get rid of nuclear weapons before they get rid of us.
