At the UK-France summit in London earlier today, David Cameron and Nicolas Sarkozy issued a declaration and signed a formal Defence Treaty that signalled a new era of defence cooperation. Letters of intent were exchanged and a Road Map agreed for deeper cooperation in the future. Three years in the making, the arrangement focuses on joint capabilities and procurement, but also to a limited extent, operations. There are two areas of specific note in the nuclear field:
Nuclear posture
NATO’s new Strategic Concept and the future of tactical nuclear weapons
NATO can and should reduce its reliance on nuclear weapons. First, President Obama with his April 2009 Prague speech has changed the way in which nuclear deterrence is discussed in many NATO member states.
October 2010
October 2010 for BASIC
Prime Minister confirms Trident decision delayed “until around 2016”
Prime Minister David Cameron confirmed before Parliament today that based upon a completed “value for money review” of the United Kingdom's deterrent, “the decision to start construction of the new submarines need not now be taken until around 2016.”
The Prime Minister also highlighted other changes in the nuclear posture:
SEPTEMBER 2010
This month we launched our new website, which has been designed and re-focused on our Getting to Zero programme.
Prominent Europeans call for change in NATO nuclear policies
Prominent European statespeople who form a sub-group of the European Leaders Network have released a letter calling on NATO to make “disarmament a core element of its approach to providing security.” In their letter, they encourage the Alliance to “review its entire nuclear policy and posture with a view to facilitating progress in arms control, in a manner consistent with effective burden sharing and alliance cohesion, effective deterrence and a demonstrable commitment to collective defence.”
A Progressive Nuclear Policy: Rethinking Continuous-at-sea deterrence
The United Kingdom has maintained unbroken nuclear weapons patrols since 1968. The rationale for this doctrine of continuous deterrence has been based on several pillars that are irrelevant in today’s environment. Rather than an absolute need for continuous deterrent, there is instead a great opportunity for Britain to take the lead as the most progressive of the nuclear weapons states by reducing the readiness and size of its
strategic force. Article originally published in RUSI Journal, Vol. 155, No. 2.
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A crisis in financing Britain’s replacement of Trident?
It is time to reassess options for the replacement of the Trident nuclear missile submarines in the light of indications that the capital cost, to be funded from the Defence Ministry's core budget, could run to 28 billion pounds over the next 10-15 years. But Paul Ingram and Nick Ritchie also argue that it would be a mistake to base a decision on cost alone.
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