How and why is Britain obtaining access to nuclear gravity bombs?

By Dan Sabbagh – The Guardian

Britain is to obtain air-launched nuclear weapons by buying a squadron of 12 F-35A fighter jets, which are capable of carrying the US B61-12 gravity bomb as well as conventional arms, Keir Starmer has announced at the Nato summit.

The jets, made by the US defence giant Lockheed Martin, will be based at RAF Marham in Norfolk, where it is likely that the nuclear bombs will also be stored. Because of existing nuclear non-proliferation agreements, the nuclear weapons will be owned by the US, while the jets will be under the control of the RAF – and therefore British. Once operational, at the end of the decade, it would be the first time that the UK will have an air-launched nuclear weapon since 1998, when the WE177 was cancelled under Tony Blair’s Labour government.