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U.K. Reportedly to Replace Nuclear Missiles
The British government has initiated plans to replace its aging arsenal of submarine-launched Trident ICBMs, the London Independent reported today (see GSN, Oct. 3, 2002). “The decision to replace Trident has been taken in principle very recently. U.S. law does not allow the U.S. to build bombs for us. We have to build our own,” a senior defense official said. The Trident is scheduled to be decommissioned in 2024. However, “there is a very long lead time” in developing a new weapon, the official said. The government is hiring physicists and mathematicians to work on a new weapon, the Independent reported. The new missiles would still be placed on submarines, defense experts said. Development is expected to cost $18.5 billion. British Nuclear Fuels is also part of an effort to build a $1.2 billion uranium enrichment site in New Mexico, according to the Independent. Retaining a nuclear deterrent is “just a symbol that Britain is in the big league, but if you need nuclear weapons to be in the big league, it’s no wonder India and others want them,” said former British Cabinet member Clare Short. “I would favor Britain becoming a leader in getting the [Nuclear] Nonproliferation Treaty updated and back on course rather than going along with American breaches to it,” she said (see related GSN story, today; Colin Brown, Independent, May 2). British Prime Minister Tony Blair said today his government has not yet decided whether to update its nuclear arsenal, Agence France-Press reported. “A decision has not been taken, but obviously we will have to think about that carefully over the coming years,” Blair said. Blair said last week that maintaining the British nuclear stockpile would be “the right thing,” AFP reported. The United Kingdom has four Trident submarines, each carrying 16 missiles carrying multiple nuclear warheads (Agence France-Presse/Khaleej Times, May 2).
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