[garbageseeker]

Besides what bombers does the UK have which have the range to reach Russia or any nation from homesoil????Both the EF-Typhoon & Tornado would need lots of aerial refuelling for that.

The British since the 1950-1984 used the V-Bomber wich carried the free fall Blue Danube atomic bomb.The V-Bomber was originally supposed to carry the Skybolt missile before that program was cancelled. I am thinking of the British Jaguar bomber. The Israelis upgraded them to carry atomic bombs.

MPs question 'nuclear upgrade' of Israel's Jaguar bombers
24-04-2002
By Richard Norton-Taylor
The Guardian
MPs are demanding an explanation after Israel upgraded British Jaguar bombers made by India under licence and potentially capable of carrying nuclear weapons.

But Moscow is still a target by the British:

Moscow criterion

The former Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Defence, Michael Quinlan, has indicated that British targeting has moved away from the plans described above. In discussing the ethics of nuclear weapons he talks about "final-sanction nuclear- strike" plans and says -

"The central idea in such plans would be to inflict disabling damage upon the aggressor state as a state, so as to remove or emasculate its ability and disposition to persist as an evil force against others, while keeping as low as possible (appallingly grave though that would probably still be) the harm done to innocent citizens. There is little doubt that in the earlier days of the nuclear age strategic targeting was not generally shaped in this way; but as time went on both US and UK planning options - French, Soviet, and now Russian ones may be a different matter - moved significantly in this direction "

What appears to have happened is that the focus of British targeting shifted from choosing a large number of cities on the basis of their population, to focusing on the Soviet and Russian command and control structure. 20 The centralisation of the old Soviet regime was such that this command and control system was and is heavily concentrated around Moscow. Field Marshall Nigel Bagnall, Chief of General Staff 1985-88, has said of the targeting of Trident "It is more than just the destruction of Moscow, it is the destruction of their command and control system".

If we look at past US nuclear planning, Soviet "leadership" targets were a special category. The ability to launch an attack on this command structure was regarded as crucial and as the last option in a nuclear exchange.22 In its independent plans Britain probably has this command structure as the main focus for its targeting. Quinlan would no doubt argue that launching a nuclear attack on this command structure is not the same as aiming to destroy Moscow, but it would, nonetheless, turn the city into a radioactive desert.

It is clear that the ability to launch an attack on the Moscow area has been the key factor determining the nature of British strategic nuclear forces since the mid 1970s. At this time the Anti- Ballistic Missile (ABM) system around the city was enhanced. Military planners in Britain calculated that this ABM system would prevent Britain from launching a nuclear attack. So a new British system, Chevaline, was designed specifically to overcome these ABMs. Chevaline was in service from 1982 to 1996 . The missiles were armed with decoys as well as warheads. The plan was to launched all 16 missiles from the submarine on patrol at Moscow as quickly as possible. The missile trajectories were adjusted so that all the warheads and decoys would land at around the same time and swamp the ABM defences.

Admiral Lord Lewin played a key role in the decision to build Trident. He has stressed the importance of the Moscow Criterion. He said: "Moscow was at the core of the Russian pysche, if you wiped out Moscow you destroyed the Soviet Unions will to succeed."

[sukhoi-30mki]

Well,the V-series hit the muesum long time ago.About Jaguars,the RAF is already cutting it's fleet of such jets & If im not mistaken,all of them would be axed by 2010.They are good low level attack jets,with decent range,but will be shredded in aerial combat.The Israelis never operated Jags-the article you are referring to is about Israel upgrading India's fleet.If one were to go only by what is written on paper,India's Jags are probably the most sophisticated of the type in the world,but even those won't have role beyond hitting Pakistani armour formations or Chinese bases in Tibet.

The UK does have a few options though.It can develop a N-variant of it's Storm Shadow cruise missile,which will give enhanced teeth to any carrier like the F-35 or EF-2000.The RAF is looking at an enhanced Storm Shadow,in the category of the US 'JASSM-ER',with a range of around 500 miles.