The UK announced yesterday that it would purchase F-35A fighter jets, which are capable of carrying nuclear bombs.
The UK’s only air tanker, the RAF Voyager, doesn’t have one. Instead, it uses a drogue – like a hosepipe – which fixes to a probe on the plane.
The UK is understood to be keen to purchase its own boom-capable air tanker, with RAF insiders saying that it must have the ability to air-to-air refuel in both ways.
The next generation fighter jet currently being developed by the UK in partnership with Japan and Italy – the Tempest – is also expected to use boom refuelling, insiders said, strengthening the case for the UK to have their own compatible refueller.
The RAF Voyager completing air-to-air refuelling of fighter jets with a drogue during a joint RAF and Royal Navy exercise in 2021 (Photo: MOD)Retrofitting the existing Voyager with a boom is felt to be too expensive, Bagwell said, with ordering new ones a more viable plan.
Once this hurdle has been crossed, the US is likely to provide the refuelling.
Sir Keir Starmer and Defence Secretary John Healey on the flight deck of HMS Prince of Wales in April with an F35B (Photo: Richard Pohle/AFP)
There have long been concerns that the UK is too dependent on US defence – particularly for its fighter jets – particularly since the re-election of Donald Trump who has pivoted away from European security.
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Read MoreThe purchase of new US-reliant F-35As and bombs is likely to rankle some of the UK’s allies, who have been calling for European countries to move away from US dependency and build their own security networks.
European officials last week said the US had been clear that Europe needed to take charge of its own security and that the continent must act quickly to shore up its own capabilities, independent of the White House.
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