A major question is whether Global Britain is going to have merely a defensive, reactive posture to a worsening international context or whether it is going to work to change that context. Simply reacting to great power competition has a way of reinforcing it. […]
The section of the Report on Nuclear Weapons is important. The Government states that our nuclear weapon stockpile will be increased from not more than 225 to not more than 260 warheads. The only explanation given is “the evolving security environment including the developing range of technological and doctrinal threats”.
While this is non-specific, it is likely that it refers both to recent Russian rhetoric that implies that nuclear weapons could be available for warfighting not just as a deterrent; and the signs that China is making significant increases to its nuclear arsenal.
Increasing the number of warheads without increasing the number of delivery vehicles is unlikely to make a significant difference to the UK’s nuclear weapons capability. It may be that the UK may be considering changing its targeting planning and policy now that there is a potential nuclear weapons threat not just from Russia alone. Läs artikel