Britain will not be able to deploy its new air-launched nuclear weapons without the United States' say-so.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer confirmed this week that the UK is set to buy 12 F-35A fighter jets from the US as world leaders flocked to The Hague for a two-day NATO summit.
The £80million jets, a variant of the F-35Bs the UK already uses, can carry conventional weapons but can also be equipped with nuclear weapons - specifically the US B61-12 gravity bomb.
When the UK receives its jets and the bombs at the end of the decade, it will be the first time that Britain has boasted an air-launched tactical nuclear weapon since 1998, when Tony Blair's Labour government shuttered the WE177 programme.
But while the Royal Air Force will own the jets and be able to operate them freely, nuclear non-proliferation controls dictate that the US will retain ownership of the nuclear weapons they come with.
