The Royal Netherlands Air Drive 313 Squadron’s F-35 fifth era fighters have absolutely taken over the nation’s nuclear assault function as of June 1, taking up from F-16 fourth era fighters acquired in the course of the Eighties based mostly at Volkel Air Base. This has made the nation the primary in Europe, and probably the primary exterior america, to discipline a stealth fighter unit able to launching nuclear assaults. Certainly, the U.S. Air Drive’s F-35s themselves had been solely confirmed to have obtained a nuclear strike functionality on March 9. Relating to this new functionality, the Royal Netherlands Air Drive commented: “The Dutch transition from the F-16 to the F-35 for the nuclear function inside NATO was initiated a few years in the past. Within the final couple of years, the F-35 underwent a complete testing and certification course of for the nuclear function of the Netherlands. The RNLAF already began utilizing the F-35 for standard duties… NATO’s nuclear deterrence is important to the safety of the Alliance, and due to this fact additionally to the safety of the Netherlands.”
Though the Netherlands just isn’t a nuclear weapons state, america retains a nuclear sharing settlement with it alongside different NATO members Belgium, Germany and Italy, permitting its forces to make use of American nuclear warheads stationed within the nation within the occasion of a battle. This association has remained controversial due its de facto creation of latest nuclear weapons states, with Western analysts having broadly highlighted that it violates Articles I and II of the Treaty on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. The nuclear strike capabilities of F-35s armed with B61 warheads has been a number one concern for Russia particularly, with reviews from U.S. media shops in November having highlighted {that a} single nuclear armed F-35 might kill over 310,000 inhabitants in Moscow or 360,000 in St Petersburg with a single assault. Nonetheless, the F-35 itself stays plagued with round 800 efficiency bugs and regarded removed from prepared for prime depth fight, with the Pentagon having refused to simply accept new fighters since mid-late 2023 and making vital cuts to future orders. That is anticipated to restrict the fighter’s capabilities on extra complicated nuclear strike missions for the foreseeable future.
