Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced in June 2025 that Britain would buy 12 nuclear-capable F-35A fighter aircraft, which will be based at RAF Marham in Norfolk. This deal represents the “biggest strengthening of the UK’s nuclear posture in a generation” and complements its existing Trident submarine-launched systems. The government added that the deal “reintroduces a nuclear role for the Royal Air Force for the first time since the UK retired its sovereign air-launched nuclear weapons following the end of the Cold War.”

Under NATO’s Dual Capable Aircraft nuclear mission, RAF pilots will fly F-35As based at Marham to conduct nuclear strikes with US bombs during a nuclear war, undertaking regular training for such an eventuality during NATO war games. The British F-35A jets based at RAF Marham will be close to RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk where the US has its own F-35As deployed, and where flights believed to be carrying B61-12 nuclear bombs landed last summer.

Not so independent

The government has made no bones over the fact that the F-35As will be under NATO command in the event of a nuclear war. But they regularly claim that Britain’s submarine-launched nuclear weapons are “sovereign” or “independent,” similarly assigned to the defence of NATO but operationally under the command of the Prime Minister.

However, the Trident II D5 nuclear missiles rely heavily on US support to remain operational. Around a dozen special nuclear flights from the US land at RAF Brize Norton every year with nuclear convoys bringing material by road between the Oxfordshire air base, AWE Aldermaston, and up to Faslane and Coulport naval bases in Scotland.

More information

On the CND website: https://cnduk.org/campaigns/no-nuclear-war/stop-british-nuke-jets/

Last September Angie Zelter of Lakenheath Alliance for Peace came to Birmingham as part of a speaking tour, and here is the text of her speech given at the Old Print Works in Birmingham. It gives even more background information.