Tactical nuclear use risks rapid strategic escalation

Why add an F-35A nuclear-strike role after decades of relying on the submarine deterrent?

It creates another signaling option, but limited tactical use is hard to authorize in time and risks accelerating strategic nuclear escalation.

The concern about a limited nuclear strike is that an attempt to signal resolve could accelerate strategic escalation. Western authorization procedures are likely to be too slow for fleeting battlefield targets. By the time permission arrives, planners may be choosing fixed strategic targets instead. That shift makes a supposedly tactical use harder to distinguish from the opening of strategic nuclear war.