UK to spearhead Europe project to build long-range missiles for NATO as WW3 fears explode | World | News
Britain is set to lead a major European military coalition to build a devastating new class of long-range missiles as fears of another all-out war reach a boiling point. The bombshell move will see the UK take the driving seat in a brand-new “Deep Precision Strike Coalition” aimed at eliminating Europe’s total reliance on US weaponry.
The pan-European project is expected to be officially unveiled on the sidelines of this week’s high-stakes NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey. It comes as European leaders scramble to plug massive security gaps left by Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw US forces and capabilities from the continent. Fears have spiked across Europe after Mr Trump cancelled a Biden-era plan to deploy a battalion of American Tomahawk cruise missiles to Germany, which was meant to act as a vital shield, capable of striking targets deep inside Russia to deter Vladimir Putin‘s aggression. Now, Britain is stepping up to spearhead the response.
The UK will lead the coalition alongside Germany, Ukraine, France and the Netherlands, The Telegraph reported. While the exact blueprints are still being finalised, the project will focus on “deep precision strike” weapons. These terrifyingly accurate missiles will boast a range of 621 to 1,864 miles – far enough to wipe out enemy bombers on their runways or destroy military production facilities before they can launch strikes against the West.
Any European missile could take decades to materialise, sources familiar with the discussions cautioned, highlighting the urgent need for the continent’s independent defence shield.
The Ankara summit begins amid intense friction between Washington and its European allies. Mr Trump is ruthlessly forcing European nations to take responsibility for their own conventional defence as the Pentagon pivots its attention toward the Indo-Pacific.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte confirmed that the pressure campaign is working, telling reporters that Mr Trump’s aggressive stance “helps a lot” in injecting urgency into European defence departments. NATO allies have agreed to a massive new defence spending target of 5% of GDP, including 3.5% dedicated to core defence and 1.5% allocated to security infrastructure.
To meet these pressing security demands, European allies and Canada are set to invest some €258billion (£222billion) in defence. NATO leaders are also expected to commit to an eye-watering €70billion (£60billion) military aid package to support Ukraine in 2026 and 2027.
This comes as tensions reach a terrifying breaking point following a horror threat from a top Kremlin adviser, who warned that European nations could be “reduced to dust” by a single 7.5-megaton Russian missile. Sergei Karaganov, an influential nuclear adviser to Putin known as ‘Professor Doomsday’, has demanded that Russia change its military doctrine to make the use of atomic weapons a mandatory obligation if a Western state wages war against it.
Directly targeting nations backing Kyiv, Karaganov warned that any conflict would lead to their absolute destruction, declaring that Germany “should cease to exist” if it seeks to build the strongest army, while branding Finland’s decision to allow NATO nuclear weapons on its territory as “tantamount to suicide”.
