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UK-US Defence and Security Relations

Richard Reeve – July 2018

Subject: Key points:

This primer explains the legal and institutional • The UK and US are bound together legally basis of current defence and security relations by the multilateral NATO Charter and a between the United Kingdom and the United series of bilateral agreements over States, including cooperation on nuclear exchange of intelligence and technology. weapons, intelligence-sharing, conventional • Cooperation between the UK and US on forces and weapons development and nuclear weapons development, procurement. manufacture and testing is unprecedented Context: and may breach Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) obligations. The “special relationship” between the United • Intelligence-sharing is probably the closest Kingdom and the United States is often institutional relationship and provides the referenced by politicians but the reality behind US with access to a global network of mass the rhetoric is little understood. While the surveillance facilities in the UK and British warmth of personal relationships between Overseas Territories. prime ministers and presidents may wax and wane, a series of complex and often opaque • The US military also uses several air and institutional relationships and infrastructure naval bases in the UK and overseas bind the two countries’ defence and security territories, notably for supporting nuclear- sectors more closely together than to any capable strategic bombers and submarines. other partners. The UK is likely to remain the • British desire to be a “full-spectrum” US’ most capable and valued military and military partner to the US at least partially intelligence ally for some time to come, but the determines the structure of UK forces, relationship is inherently asymmetric given including a deployable Army division, that Washington deploys resources around ten aircraft carriers and nuclear weapons. times larger than London’s. This has very • The UK is the US’ closest military industrial significant impact on the independence of the and scientific partner, not least in the F-35 UK’s conventional and nuclear military forces Joint Strike Fighter project. While the as well as its involvement in global mass British military is increasingly reliant on surveillance operations. As with the economic imports from the US, British industry and legal relationship between the UK and the partners at least as much with European as European Union, unravelling the defence and with US peers. security relationship with the United States would likely be complex and expensive.

What is the legal basis of UK-US defence and contrary to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation security relations? Treaty (NPT), in force since 1970.

Despite enjoying what the UK Ministry of The Polaris Sales Agreement (1963) is the Defence calls “the broadest, deepest and most other pillar of UK-US nuclear cooperation. It advanced [defence and security relationship] secured the supply to the UK of submarine- of any two countries”, the United Kingdom and launched Polaris missiles, including launch United States have no bilateral defence treaty. tubes and guidance system. The agreement Instead, the legal basis of their relations is the was updated in 1982 to cover the next multilateral NATO Charter and a series of generation Trident missile system and remains agreements relating more specifically to in force. intelligence and nuclear capabilities sharing. The Defence Trade Co-operation Treaty The British-US Communication Intelligence (2007) removes the need for specific Agreement (known as UKUSA, 1946) is the authorisation of many defence equipment secret (until 2010) agreement governing sales between the two countries and allows intelligence-sharing between the UK and US the transfer of certain sensitive technologies to plus Canada (1948), Australia and New Zealand facilitate the joint development of new (both 1956). This alliance is commonly known weapons. This seems to have been motivated as Five Eyes and comprises by far the world’s by the British need for rapid delivery of largest network for gathering and sharing equipment for use in coalition operations in electronic and signals intelligence from posts in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as the needs of the the five members and their overseas US-led F-35 Joint Strike Fighter programme for territories. This mass surveillance network is trans-Atlantic cooperation. Only Australia also known as ECHELON. has such an arrangement with the US.

The North Atlantic Treaty (1949) is the legal basis for UK-US mutual defence obligations What are the priority areas for UK-US within NATO. This prescribes the geographical defence and security cooperation? area of mutual defence as Europe, the While the UK and US cooperate on virtually Mediterranean, the North Atlantic and North every element of their defence and security America. It thus does not bind the UK to defend policies, the key areas are intelligence Hawaii or US territories in the Pacific; nor does collection and sharing, nuclear weapons, naval it bind the US to defend British Overseas and special forces. Territories other than Gibraltar, Cyprus bases and Bermuda. The greatest value to the US from the relationship would seem to be British The so-called Mutual Defence Agreement capabilities for intelligence collection, (1958) is not a mutual defence treaty but an including strategically positioned electronic agreement permitting the US and UK to share listening posts on British Overseas Territories critical information and materiel required for in the Mediterranean, Indian and South the manufacture of nuclear weapons and Atlantic Oceans. While the US is very much the delivery systems. This has included nuclear dominant partner in Five Eyes, it relies heavily propulsion systems for submarines and on British inputs. Similarly, mainland Britain is plutonium. The critical article of the an important node relaying military and Agreement (III bis) is revised and renewed intelligence communications between the US every 10 years. No other two nuclear weapons and Europe, Africa and the Middle East. The states have such an agreement and it is key relationship is between the US National debatable whether the transfer of nuclear weapons technologies and materials is not

Security Agency (NSA) and the UK Government terms of naval forces and special forces. All UK Communications Headquarters (GCHQ). armed forces are designed and trained to be interoperable with US forces. Perhaps the greatest value to the UK from the relationship derives from US technical The priority for US-UK naval cooperation is assistance to its nuclear weapons programme. bringing the two new British aircraft carriers Thus, the US covers most of the development and their F-35B airwings into operation. While costs of the Trident intercontinental ballistic the UK has designed and built its own carriers, missile (ICBM), while the UK designs its own it is dependent on US support to develop, build ballistic missile submarines (around the US- and bring the aircraft into service. Thus, British built common missile compartment) and F-35B pilots train in the US and the carriers will, nuclear warheads. The 2014 renewal of the for at least their first few years, operate mixed Mutual Defence Agreement also appeared to squadrons of UK and US Marine Corps F-35B. include revision to allow the US to supply The deployment of Royal Navy carrier strike technology needed by the UK to develop a groups will be coordinated with deployment of nuclear propulsion system for its new US carriers and likely include at least one US Dreadnought class submarines. While the UK Navy destroyer. probably has the technical capacity to follow The other big area of naval cooperation is France in developing its own ICBMs and all operations to control sea lanes , not least aspects of its nuclear submarines, this would those on key oil-supply routes, such as the Red entail an additional cost of billions of pounds. Sea-Gulf of Aden-Arabian Sea-Persian Gulf. The US gains by recovering a less significant There, the two countries command (US) and share of its development costs via British deputy command (UK) multinational participation. It may feel it benefits more from Combined Task Forces from their adjacent HQs the political dimension of a closely coordinated in Bahrain. Similar imperatives drive the US nuclear alliance, for example in its approach to desire for the Royal Navy (and others) to revive international nuclear disarmament initiatives. its presence in the South China Sea, where China has established air and naval bases. Contrary to some accounts, the US is unlikely to be able to prevent the UK from launching its UK and US nuclear attack submarines also have Trident missiles, nor to over-ride their a unique ability to work together in anti- guidance in-flight. However, it is difficult to submarine warfare tasks under the Arctic imagine the UK using its nuclear weapons icecap. Such cooperation has been revived without coordination with Washington. since 2016 in response to Russian activity and greater cooperation (with Norway) is planned The other important dimension of strategic as the RAF brings its new P-8A aircraft into weapons in the relationship is the designated service from 2019. use of British air bases in the UK and Diego Garcia atoll by the US Air Force (USAF) for Land forces cooperation may be of lesser forward deploying nuclear bombers. No other importance at present. While the MoD appears country currently provides such basing, to base its Army structure at least partly on the although several European countries do host desire to contribute a division-sized formation US tactical nuclear weapons and strike aircraft. (15,000+ personnel) to coalition operations, as The UK is also able to support US nuclear- it did in both Iraq wars, its actual capacity to do armed submarines in Scotland if necessary. this is now widely doubted. Moreover, the US itself has deprioritised the kind of major land Conventional military forces are of lesser offensives that might require such significance in the relationship but there is a reinforcement. still a very close relationship, especially in

Instead, UK Special Forces have been deeply hub for strategic ISR operations with variants integrated with US Special Forces in covert of the RC-135 Rivet Joint aircraft. The base is operations from Afghanistan to Libya but formally scheduled for closure by 2023, but especially in Iraq and Syria. Close air force this is understood to be under review by the cooperation in operations of armed drones Trump administration. and other intelligence, surveillance and RAF Welford in Berkshire is a munitions reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft (of which the UK storage facility. The US has based only is the only major operator in European NATO) conventional weapons in the UK for the last is also key to this relationship. decade.

Does the US have military bases in the UK RAF Waddington is also known to be used by and its Overseas Territories? USAF for remotely piloting unmanned aircraft (‘drones’) used in operations in the Middle East The United States has a major standing and Africa. presence of forces in the United Kingdom and uses at least four British Overseas Territories Intelligence and monitoring facilities in the UK for military and intelligence operations on a known to be operated by or in conjunction more or less permanent basis. The focus is very with the NSA include: much on the USAF and the NSA. GCHQ Bude in Cornwall is a satellite ground USAF bases in the UK (all owned by the RAF) station and electronic communications operating or supporting aircraft include: monitoring facility.

RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire is the only air RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire is the base in Europe designated to support US USAF-run military and intelligence strategic bombers, including B-1B, B-2 and B- communications hub between the US, Europe 52 aircraft. Since 2010 the base has been a and Africa. It will soon host the Joint standby facility, with no aircraft permanently Intelligence Operations Center Europe Analytic based there. It is regularly used for military Center (JAC), ‘fusing’ US intelligence with the exercises. UK and NATO allies. It is currently incorporating units from the closing US bases RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk is the main US at RAF Alconbury and RAF Molesworth. combat air base in Europe. It hosts one squadron of F-15C long-range fighter and two RAF Fylingdales in North Yorkshire is a UK-US of F-15E strike aircraft, representing about half facility for ballistic missile early warning. of US combat aircraft still based in Europe. RAF Menwith Hill in North Yorkshire is a vast These are due to be replaced by F-35A strike electronic communications monitoring facility fighters in coming years. Until 2008, tactical operated in conjunction with GCHQ and critical nuclear weapons were stored at the base. to ECHELON. RAF Mildenhall (adjacent to Lakenheath) hosts There are now no US Navy bases in the UK but the main USAF aerial refuelling capability in US nuclear submarines have use of two Europe with KC-135R Stratotanker aircraft. facilities in western Scotland: These are to support US and NATO aircraft deployed in the UK, Germany, Italy and HM Naval Base Clyde is the home of all UK elsewhere. The base also hosts a Special submarines and frequently hosts visiting US Operations Wing with MC-130J Commando II nuclear submarines. Nearby Holy Loch was a and CV-22 Osprey aircraft to transport and base for US ballistic missile submarines from extract US Special Forces around Europe, 1961 to 1992. Africa and the Middle East. Mildenhall is also a

Loch Ewe in Wester Ross has a tiny facility Facility at King’s Bay Naval Base, Georgia in designated for repair or resupply of NATO (US, support of the Vanguard-class ballistic missile French) nuclear submarines. submarines and their weapons.

In addition, the US military and NSA use bases Also important is the presence of RAF and in several British overseas territories: Royal Navy personnel involved in operationalising the UK’s F-35B aircraft at Ascension Island in the South Atlantic hosts a Edwards Air Force Base, California and Naval NSA/GCHQ satellite tracking and electronic Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland. RAF surveillance facility. personnel also remotely pilot both RAF and Bermuda is used occasionally by US Navy P-8A USAF MQ-9 Reaper aircraft from Creech Air Poseidon anti-submarine warfare aircraft Force Base in Nevada. operating in the western Atlantic. The US Naval Outside the US, UK forces do share many Air Station there closed in 1995. foreign facilities primarily operated by the US Diego Garcia atoll in the British Indian Ocean military. Examples include Al-Udeid Air Base in Territory is leased to the US Navy and hosts a Qatar and various bases in Iraq and major air base used sporadically by USAF Afghanistan. strategic bombers against targets in Asia. It is also used as a strategic transport base by the Are US and UK military personnel ‘embedded’ Navy and USAF and reportedly hosts a NSA in each other’s armed forces? communications and surveillance facility. About 140 British military personnel are RAF Akrotiri in the Sovereign Base Areas, ‘embedded’ within allied armed forces, Cyprus is used periodically by USAF aircraft, meaning that they fall under that state’s especially reconnaissance aircraft operating normal chain of command. Of these, 49 (as of over the Middle East. Ayios Nikolaos Station at 31 March 2018) were within US forces and Dhekelia is a British-run electronic surveillance another 36 within coalition HQs, which facility within 200 km of Syria and Lebanon, probably means under de facto US command. available to the NSA. While the number is small, and mostly in The Royal Navy’s Mediterranean operating HQ/staff roles, UK personnel embedded in US base at Gibraltar is also used occasionally by forces are known to have fulfilled key US Navy nuclear-powered submarines passing operational roles like piloting (in cockpit or in and out of the Strait but hosts no standing remotely) US combat aircraft in Syria. The total US deployments. number presumably also excludes UK special forces, on which the government does not In addition, GCHQ facilities in Kenya and Oman comment, where embedding is common. are also reportedly linked into the ECHELON intelligence network. It is unclear how many US personnel are embedded within the British Armed Forces. Does the UK use or share US military bases? How close is the UK-US relationship in terms The UK does not have any of its own bases on of military research and procurement? US territory. However, in addition to seconded personnel and those in training exercises, it The UK and the US are each other’s closest does have some personnel and equipment partners in developing new weapons. Apart located temporarily at US bases. These include from the unparalleled cooperation on nuclear the Trident Training Facility, Defensive weapons, the stand-out area is the Lockheed- Ordnance Support Facility and Trident Refit Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the biggest

5 arms procurement project in history. The UK is Australia is perhaps the closest comparator, the only Tier 1 partner in the project, meaning being deeply integrated into the Five Eyes that a reported 15% (by value) of each of intelligence network and special forces 3,000+ planned F-35s will be constructed in operations, hosting increasing numbers of US Britain. London secured this commitment by forces, buying the most sophisticated US investing heavily in the project at an early stage military products and being the only other and committing to buy quantities (138) of the country to have a defence trade cooperation 5th generation fighter second only to the US. treaty. While it shares a similar outlook to the This makes it hard for the British government US and UK, its armed forces are much smaller to reduce its planned procurement of F-35s than the UK’s and lack capabilities like aircraft despite it being unable to budget for them at carriers and nuclear submarines. present. Canada similarly has an integrated intelligence BAE Systems, which is the main UK contractor arrangement and, uniquely, an integrated on the F-35, is a key player in the trans-Atlantic continental air defence network but its relationship. By far the UK’s largest military strategic outlook is quite different to the US industrial company, it also has a huge US-based and UK, its armed forces much smaller, and operation and now sells more to the US market industrial relations weak. than to the UK. That said, the relationship is France is the only other nuclear-armed ally of asymmetric in that the US buys relatively little the United States, and of very similar from the UK while the UK is increasingly reliant capabilities to the UK, with many overseas on military imports from the US. BAE also territories. But it has a far more independent works at least as closely with European peers, outlook on “strategic autonomy”, particularly for example Leonardo (Italy) and Airbus as regards its nuclear weapons and industrial (France, Germany, Spain) in developing fighter policy. It is also has a far weaker intelligence aircraft and missiles. relationship. Policy shifts since 2010 have seen the MoD Japan and South Korea have far larger shift to buying major new equipment off-the- militaries than the UK and host larger shelf rather than pursue the slower and riskier concentrations of US forces, as does Germany. option of developing or even manufacturing However, Japan and Germany are bespoke weapons platforms domestically. This constitutionally limited in their force has tended to advantage US suppliers, deployments. South Korea is very much including Boeing (P-8A anti-submarine aircraft oriented to defending against the North. and AH-64E Apache attack helicopter), General Turkey, the US ally with the largest military in Atomics (MQ-9B ‘Protector’ drone) and Europe, is similarly occupied with disputes with Oshkosh (armoured vehicles). its neighbours.

How do UK relations with the US compare with other states? Sustainable Security Programme The State Department lists another 54 states Oxford Research Group with which the US has collective defence Development House arrangements. For all the strategic shifts in US 56-64 Leonard Street armed forces deployments from Europe to the London EC2A 4LT Pacific, none of these countries yet comes United Kingdom close to matching its defence and security +44 (0)207 549 0298 partnership with the UK. [email protected]