EXCLUSIVE: As worries grow over US involvement in British defence amid the Greenland crisis, defence expert Professor Anthony Glees said the UK is ‘not naked’ when it comes to military power
A top defence expert has spoken out amid claims the US could ground the RAF’s planes amid as tensions grow over Greenland.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer today insisted the British people will “stand up for our values” after Donald Trump said he would charge the UK a 10% tariff “on any and all goods” sent to the US from February 1 – increasing to 25% from June 1 – until a deal is reached for Washington to purchase Greenland from Denmark.
It sets up an extraordinary diplomatic clash between Westminster and Washington not seen in decades – and has sparked fears that Britain’s F-35 fighter jets, which use American-made technology, could be rendered useless if the US ever triggered a ‘kill switch’.
While it is true that the F-35s aircraft rely on American-controlled software updates, logistics networks, and parts pipelines, meaning the US could theoretically withdraw support for them, the UK would be able to respond by halting the shipment of British-made rear fuselages and ejection seats, which would eventually force the US production line to a standstill.
Professor Anthony Glees, professor of politics at the University of Buckingham, pointed out that even if this were to happen, the RAF still has plenty of other warplanes to rely on – including 137 Eurofighter (Typhoon) jets, which use parts from the UK and all over Europe.
He said: “In fact we currently only have 37 F-35 jets… which is not much.. So these are American jets, American technology, etcetera. However, we have 137 Eurofighter Typhoons.
“And the Eurofighters… the clue’s in the name. BAE make them, Airbus make them, Leonardo in Italy make them.”
“They’re completely independent of America. And 137 Eurofighter jets is not nothing. In other words, we are inter-dependent, in the words of some of the tech experts, on the United States of America.
“F-35 jets are very important, but we are not naked. We’re not naked when it comes armed power – and we should stop pretending as if we were.”
The UK plans to avoid supply chain dependency with its next fighter jet, the Tempest, which is being developed in partnership Italy and Japan and aims to launch by 2035.
Unlike the F-35 jets, which depend on military servers hosted the US, the Tempest will give the RAF full ‘sovereign ownership’, meaning British forces will be able change software and integrate new weapons independently.
It will also use AI to control swarms of unmanned ‘loyal wingman’ drones that can scout ahead or engage targets to protect the aircraft.
Professor Glees has also spoken to the Mirror about whether Donald Trump is in ‘control’ of Britain’s nuclear deterrent programme, Trident, saying: “We have a maintenance contract with Lockheed Martin, American company, that just in 2024 was extended indefinitely. Everything surrounding the missiles, that’s American.
“But we control them and we can fire them if we ever needed to – there is no US veto on his doing so. So at this moment in time we are very strong and we shouldn’t talk ourselves into thinking we are very weak – we’re not.
“We need to stop talking down our strength and whining that we cannot live without holding Nanny’s hand. Because we can.”
