The British Ministry of Defence announced its intention to upgrade nuclear warheads. This is reported in the Refreshed Defence Command Paper. The document represents the reaction of the British Ministry of Defense to current challenges, the main of which are represented by growing confrontation and volatility in the international arena.
The drafters of the Paper emphasize that they were pushed to an extraordinary revision of the Defence Command Paper due to external circumstances, in particular the armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine, which is reffered as "the most serious challenge to the open international order in the last generation" and "the largest conflict on a scale since the end of World War II" in the Paper. The British Ministry of Defense also reported that they are learning lessons from the current conflict and drawing appropriate conclusions. Along with the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, "China's rapid military modernization and its growing activity in the Indo-Pacific region" are also called a "long-term systemic challenge".
In the context of updating the nuclear arsenal, the Paper says about replacing Vanguard-type strategic submarines with new Dreadnought-type submarines. It is expected that the first Dreadnought will enter service in the first half of the 2030s. Along with the new submarines, new warheads will be deployed. The text separately notes that both Dreadnought-type submarines and warheads are being developed and created in the UK.
In total, the British Navy currently has four Vanguard-type strategic submarines built in the 1990s. They are HMS Victorious, HMS Vanguard, HMS Vigilant and HMS Vengeance. In 2021, the UK published an Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy issues, which stated plans to replace all four submarines with Dreadnought-type strategic submarines. The document also reported that the number of nuclear warheads in the country will be increased from 225 to 260.
Earlier, British Defense Minister Ben Wallace said that the country's military budget in 2024 will exceed the amount of £50 billion for the first time in history. Thus, the increase in the defense budget over the five-year period from 2019 to 2024 will amount to about £12 billion, which is more than a 10% increase in nominal terms. The country's Defense minister also said that the ministry received additional £3 billion for the next two years and another £6 billion for the next three years for the purposes of nuclear deterrence.
Source: The UK Government, Defence’s response to a more contested and volatile world
