Britain’s ‘Independent’ V-Bomber Force and US Nuclear Weapons, 1957–1962
This article examines a secret Anglo-American programme, Project ‘E’, which equipped the RAF’s V-bomber Force with US nuclear weapons for use in wartime. It shows Project ‘E’ was ineffective as a warhead supply programme and, furthermore, that it crippled the operational effectiveness of the V-bomber Force as a whole between 1958 and 1962. This article argues that as a result of Project ‘E’, the V-Force was neither operationally nor politically independent as a nuclear deterrent force. This challenges the traditional view of the V-Force as the benchmark of nuclear independence to assess the Skybolt, Polaris and Trident programmes.
From the Editors
As this issue of The Journal of Strategic Studies goes to press, the threat posed by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), both in the Middle East and beyond, continues to attract considerable attention. It is thus fitting that we begin this issue with two articles on insurgency in the Middle East. In ‘Leaderless Global Jihadism: The Paradox of Discriminate Violence’, Gilbert A. Ramsay and Sarah V. Marsden of the Handa Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence at the School of International Relations, University of St Andrews, contest the widely-accepted assertion that violence perpetrated by decentralized jihadist groups is indiscriminate. To the contrary, they argue, based upon an analysis of jihadist targeting in Western Europe and America from 2001 to 2013, that targeting choices by jihadists has in fact been more discriminate than that of better-organized groups. As the war against the Assad regime in Syria continues, there is a growing body of scholarship looking at civil-military relations in Arab countries. In ‘”Second-Class”: The Grievances of Sunni Officers in the Syrian Armed Forces,’ Hicham Bou Nassif draws upon an extensive set of interviews with Syrian officers to examine the politics and consequences of sectarian stacking within the Syrian armed forces. His research demonstrates that Sunni officers have become disaffected with Syria’s Alawi regime due to professional, corporatist, and ideational grievances. These grievances have had grave consequences for the Assad regime, as the author concludes that roughly half of Syria’s Sunni officers had defected by summer 2014. Another topic of growing interest for the strategic studies community is the Russian military. This issue contributes to this growing literature
American War Plans 1945-1950
The International History Review - "...carefully, and intelligently, summarizes the major plans from 1945 through about 1952." Military History - "I especially recommend this book to students seeking a concise overview of the war in its operational aspects, and to any reader interested in the military history of the World War II period." Military Review - " a useful addition to the military reader"s library" This scholarship is of the greatest significance...Rodd provides by far the best available overview of the subject and offers the most authoritative judgements...his book should be required reading in the military academies, the staff colleges, and the senior war colleges." - Journal of Military History