Britain's nuclear deterrent

[wilts rover]

Apparently the recent failure during test firing of one of the country's highly expensive Trident missiles was, according to Grant Shapps, due to it being damp.

It's on a submarine.

I blame Labour.

https://twitter.com/robertsproggit/status/1760328112737259708

[TonySoprano]

That's why they test I suppose.
Better to find out now, than in a few years when the nukes are flying for real.

[Colin C No.3]

Over a hundred successful Trident missile launch tests carried out in the last 14 years. Mind you, only 12 of those tests were actually carried out by the UK (the last two failing) the rest were launched by the US who developed the weapons.

The other members of the ‘nuclear club’ must have been looking on with some amused interest to put it mildly.

Grant Shapps was onboard the nuclear submarine as it launched its ‘Roman Candle’ off the American coastline. He has the utmost faith that Britain carries a credible nuclear deterrent & that the countries citizens can rest easy in their beds despite two failed test launches from its Trident submarines in the past four years.

And so with that comforting thought I'll simply say, 'nighty night & sleep tight all'.

[Sprotyrover]

Looks like we need to spend more on defence and do some more test firing!

[bpoolrover]

Not sure it matters that much, if it gets to the point of nukes flying everywhere we wont be around to see it fail anyway

[Donnywolf]

Can anyone enlighten me to what " it was event specific" actually means .

Here is what Shapps / Green / Fox Dreary Deirdre Atkins and every other Govt spokesperson has said since the failure ( over a Month since ). It only came to light a few days ago

A spokesperson also insisted the anomaly "was event specific, and therefore there are no implications for the reliability of the wider Trident missile systems and stockpile"

So , what does "event specific" actually mean. I'm not bothered about the politics or booting the Govt but just WHAT does it mean ?

[Donnywolf]

Looking back on my post maybe event specific means we fired it and it went wrong but just this once .

But that's twice to my knowledge and here's Theresa May showing how NOT to answer a question 4 times in a row and surprise surprise diss the Opposition at the same time

I watched this live in 2017;so nothing changes

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/video/2017/jan/22/theresa-may-dodges-question-trident-misfire-four-times-video


That link unfortunately ends after 3 attempts by Marr to get May to come clean but if you search you will find the full thing . I guess this was an event specific misfire by me BUT if you read the first few lines you will see clearly that it says " 4 times Marr tried to get an answer"

[Pancho Regan]

It's rather embarrassing that the UK has now failed twice to successfully launch a Trident missile.
How on earth can that happen, with all the technology at our disposal?

I mean, it's not rocket science is it?

[i_ateallthepies]

Apparently the last time they did a test launch was 2016 and it failed.  Wouldn't you have thought it would make sense to do another test once they had addressed the cause of the failure?  Instead they waited 8 years and got another failure, WTF!!?

[BobG]

Oh we can't afford to fire 'em willy nilly y'know... There's no money.

What a country we are....

BobG

[i_ateallthepies]

You rarely hear us called Great Britain anymore, perhaps just as well really.

[Bentley Bullet]

Keith'll sort it.

[albie]

I reckon our biggest nuclear deterrent is other countries laughing so hard that they bust a blood vessel with their hysterics.

Confuse our adversaries with incompetence and humour, while our US masters decide what further indignity they can impose on us.

[i_ateallthepies]

It needed sorting eight years ago, and still does.

[DonnyOsmond]

Watch out Russia - Don't mess with us or we might nuke some fish for £3bn a year!

[Herbert Anchovy]

I'm not in the habit of defending the Government at all, but this has absolutely nothing to do with them.

From what I have read, Nuclear tests are incredibly complex, in fact much more complicated than when fired in reality during a conflict as the safety measures in place are unbelievably complex. As well as being complex, Nuclear missile tests are very, very expensive. As a result, countries rarely carry out these tests and when they do, it's big news and the failure rate is significant amongst all nations. Despite this, the Trident missile system is the most reliable Nuclear system in the world, and it's made in Britain. In October, the US Navy successfully launched a Trident missile from a Submarine and since 1989 there have been 191 successful test firings and 'single figure' number of fails. In comparison, the Russian Bulava missile system has an estimated failure rate of 50%.

Whilst it's far from ideal that the test failed, it's one of the very few things that we can't pin on the Government right now. Unfortunately, these things do happen and is a reminder of how hugely complex these things are rather any sign of 'Britain no longer being great'.

[drfchound]

I'm not in the habit of defending the Government at all, but this has absolutely nothing to do with them.

From what I have read, Nuclear tests are incredibly complex, in fact much more complicated than when fired in reality during a conflict as the safety measures in place are unbelievably complex. As well as being complex, Nuclear missile tests are very, very expensive. As a result, countries rarely carry out these tests and when they do, it's big news and the failure rate is significant amongst all nations. Despite this, the Trident missile system is the most reliable Nuclear system in the world, and it's made in Britain. In October, the US Navy successfully launched a Trident missile from a Submarine and since 1989 there have been 191 successful test firings and 'single figure' number of fails. In comparison, the Russian Bulava missile system has an estimated failure rate of 50%.

Whilst it's far from ideal that the test failed, it's one of the very few things that we can't pin on the Government right now. Unfortunately, these things do happen and is a reminder of how hugely complex these things are rather any sign of 'Britain no longer being great'.

Very good post there HA but I don’t think it will be popular with the usual suspects.

[Sprotyrover]

I'm not in the habit of defending the Government at all, but this has absolutely nothing to do with them.

From what I have read, Nuclear tests are incredibly complex, in fact much more complicated than when fired in reality during a conflict as the safety measures in place are unbelievably complex. As well as being complex, Nuclear missile tests are very, very expensive. As a result, countries rarely carry out these tests and when they do, it's big news and the failure rate is significant amongst all nations. Despite this, the Trident missile system is the most reliable Nuclear system in the world, and it's made in Britain. In October, the US Navy successfully launched a Trident missile from a Submarine and since 1989 there have been 191 successful test firings and 'single figure' number of fails. In comparison, the Russian Bulava missile system has an estimated failure rate of 50%.

Whilst it's far from ideal that the test failed, it's one of the very few things that we can't pin on the Government right now. Unfortunately, these things do happen and is a reminder of how hugely complex these things are rather any sign of 'Britain no longer being great'.

I blame Wilts Rover!

[wilts rover]

I'm not in the habit of defending the Government at all, but this has absolutely nothing to do with them.

From what I have read, Nuclear tests are incredibly complex, in fact much more complicated than when fired in reality during a conflict as the safety measures in place are unbelievably complex. As well as being complex, Nuclear missile tests are very, very expensive. As a result, countries rarely carry out these tests and when they do, it's big news and the failure rate is significant amongst all nations. Despite this, the Trident missile system is the most reliable Nuclear system in the world, and it's made in Britain. In October, the US Navy successfully launched a Trident missile from a Submarine and since 1989 there have been 191 successful test firings and 'single figure' number of fails. In comparison, the Russian Bulava missile system has an estimated failure rate of 50%.

Whilst it's far from ideal that the test failed, it's one of the very few things that we can't pin on the Government right now. Unfortunately, these things do happen and is a reminder of how hugely complex these things are rather any sign of 'Britain no longer being great'.

I blame Wilts Rover!

I would too if I were you...

A nuclear deterrent works only when your enemy knows that if they attack you - you will retaliate.

As pointed out by HA, our enemies (Russia) now know we can't afford to test our Trident stock and when we have tested it - 7 years apart - it has failed.

They are manufactured by Lockheed Martin in the USA btw. As to how old the ones we currently own and in what conditions they are stored if an issue has been noted with regards to storage and age of the guidance systems - I would blame Wilts Rover for querying that as well.

I wouldn't rely on him to keep the country safe though. So its a good job Grant Shapps is in charge...

[Bentley Bullet]

Come back Corbyn!

[Bristol Red Rover]

Come back Corbyn!

Stop kidding us, you much prefer Johnson, Sunak, Starmer staring in the Punch and Judy show, threatening the audience with a string of sausages. Oh yes you do!

[Bentley Bullet]

I was actually being sarcastic!

[selby]

  It could be the biggest mistake in the world to dismiss it as a dud though.
  Typical us if the only one that worked was the one aimed at Moscow.