UK commits to F-35A for nuclear role

A file photo of an F-35A. The UK is to acquire the variant of the JSF for the shared NATO nuclear mission, but it will also afford a greatly increased conventional strike capability. (US Air Force)

The UK Royal Air Force (RAF) is to receive the Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) as it returns to the nuclear role it lost following the end of the Cold War in the late 1990s, the government announced on 24 June.

Formally announced by UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer at the NATO summit in The Hague, the move will see the Ministry of Defence (MoD) acquire at least 12 F-35A Dual-Capable Aircraft (DCA), with an order to be included in the second tranche of JSFs now being negotiated with the Joint Program Office (JPO).

“The prime minister will announce at the NATO summit tomorrow [25 June] that the UK intends to buy at least a dozen of the dual-capable aircraft, which can carry both nuclear and conventional weapons,” the government said, adding, “The purchase represents the biggest strengthening of the UK's nuclear posture in a generation. It also reintroduces a nuclear role for the RAF for the first time since the UK retired its sovereign air-launched nuclear weapons following the end of the Cold War. The UK will deploy the jets as part of NATO's nuclear DCA mission, strengthening NATO's nuclear deterrence posture.”

Mixed fleet