British Defense Minister Ben Woolis confirmed that the United Kingdom decided to increase its nuclear weapons arsenal in response to Russia’s strengthening of its missile defense system.
Woolis said, in an interview with the “BBC”, today, Sunday: “My duty in the service is to ensure the existence of effective means of nuclear deterrence, taking into account and following up on what Russia and the rest of the countries are doing.”
The British Minister of Defense added, “In recent years we have witnessed a significant increase in investments allocated to the missile defense sector in Russia. There has been planning to develop and deploy new means of missile defense. If we want to have effective deterrents, it is necessary for them to have the capacity to carry out their missions.”
Woolis indicated, however, that the British nuclear arsenals would remain relatively small compared to the French, while he declined to answer a question about the cost of this measure, but clarified that the general value of measures to modernize the nuclear deterrence program, including ballistic missiles and submarines, would amount to about one million pounds sterling. .
On March 16, the British government released the report of the full review of security, defense and foreign policy issues, saying that the United Kingdom intends to increase by 40% its capabilities in the field of nuclear weapons, which in practice means the number of nuclear warheads will rise to 260 pieces.
Source: BBC + TASS