Increase the nuclear weapons. It’s the plan Great Britainengaged in these months of war Ukraine in a show of force against the Russia out of Wladimir Putin. Moscow has the largest nuclear arsenal in the world with nearly 6,000 warheads, while Britain currently has 195 warheads but plans to increase it to 260. It would be the first increase since cold War. The decision was made long before the attack Kyivbut the process has accelerated since Putin warned the West and put his nuclear forces on “high alert.”
Kalibr missiles loaded onto the Russian submarine in the port of Sevastopol
The Moscow-London escalation
Meanwhile, relations between Moscow and Russia are escalating London. British Under-Secretary of State for Defence, James Heappey, called the bombing of military targets on Russian territory “completely legitimate”, even with UK arms shipments to Ukraine. The Kremlin then threatened to “hit the Western decision-making centers in Kyiv” and even the NATO countries from which military aid came. The Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov then conjured up the specter of a “Third World War”. Putin also spoke of “terrible weapons” that could wreak havoc in the West, such as the Satan 2 ICBM, tested earlier this month, which can carry up to 15 nuclear warheads.
The reactions from Great Britain
Two days ago, however, the holder of the British defence, Ben Wallace, stressing that “NATO forces are vastly superior to those of Russia”, he said that British nuclear submarines “are under water, hidden, waiting in case Britain needs to be protected”. Wallace stated he was not afraid of aggression: “We have large military forces, a nuclear deterrent and we are part of a 30-nation NATO partnership.” The government Johnson it therefore continues to stoke tensions with Moscow. The goal is to force it Russia withdraw from Ukraine. Foreign Minister Liz Truss has in recent days invoked the need for a broad rearmament of the West, an increase in military supplies to Kyiv, a cessation of imports of Russian gas or oil, and some kind of Born Global project. also focused on the security of the Indo-Pacific.
The British nuclear program
Trident, the British nuclear program, is operated by the Royal Navy and is armed with four Vanguard-class submarines ballistic missiles Trident II D-5. The new project plans to put others into action four submarines. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said the plan to increase Britain’s nuclear stockpiles was “the ultimate insurance policy against the worst threat from enemy states”. While Secretary of Defense Wallace insists that this is in response to what “the Russians and others have done in recent years.”
It’s actually been a year since the announcement of the increase in Britain’s nuclear arsenal. On March 16, 2021, the government published an “Integrated Review” of its defense, security and foreign policy strategy, entitled “Global Britain in a Competitive Age”. The goal was to reposition itself on the geopolitical chessboard as a nation with growing global influence, including in terms of defense and security. Even then, there was talk of the need to equip Britain with the necessary tools to meet both the renewed challenge from Vladimir Putin’s Russia and the economic and military rise of China.
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