Ahead of the NATO summit in The Hague, Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced the acquisition of 12 U.S. F-35A fighter jets. These are “dual-capable” aircraft (DCA) meaning they can carry both conventional and nuclear munitions; with the latter referring specifically to the U.S. B61-12 gravity bombs. The jets are expected to be based at RAF Marham in Norfolk. These bombs have lower explosive power than the warheads deployed on the UK’s Trident submarines, and the government argues that their deployment represents a significant shift in British nuclear posture.
The supposed importance of this change is that, since retiring its air-based nuclear platforms , the UK has been unique among nuclear-armed states by relying on a single (sea-based) launch platform for its nuclear weapons. Hence, this purchase has been described as re-establishing the nuclear “dyad” the UK once maintained – comprising submarine- and air-launched platforms – during and shortly after the Cold War, which is similar to the current posture of France, the only other European nuclear power. However, there are key distinctions.
Unlike the Cold War era, the UK would not retain full ownership or operational control over these weapons. Therefore, this arrangement could not only increase the UK’s dependence on U.S. technology but also make the deployment and use of these nuclear systems contingent on coordination with both the United States and NATO.
This initiative also comports with the recent Strategic Defence Review’s aim to foster discussions with the U.S. and NATO on “the potential benefits and feasibility of enhanced UK participation in NATO’s nuclear mission” since the UK intends to participate in NATO’s DCA nuclear mission as a part of this acquisition. This deal therefore enhances the UK’s role in NATO’s longstanding nuclear sharing arrangement, which emphasizes the collective distribution of the benefits, responsibilities, and risks associated with nuclear deterrence among member states.
The stationing of U.S. B61 bombs and DCAs across NATO member states has been cited in NATO fact sheets as central to this arrangement. Accordingly, as opposed to signalling a return to the independent “nuclear dyad” the UK once maintained, this deal represents a broader re-entry of the UK into a nuclear sharing framework which it withdrew from, as also indicated by recent reports of a possible a return of B61 bombs to RAF Lakenheath following the termination of such arrangements since 2008. Yet such moves clash with prevailing UK public sentiment.
A YouGov poll from earlier in 2025 found that 61% of the British public opposed the stationing of U.S. nuclear weapons in the UK. Furthermore, the return of U.S. nuclear weapons to Lakenheath is even more alarming in light of recent revelations by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), which revealed that U.S. military bases in the UK will be exempt from emergency radiation regulations.