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| Britain |
| Blair may overhaul British nuclear deterrent system |
| 2005-05-02 |
| LONDON - British Prime Minister Tony Blair has decided to equip Britain with a new generation of deterrent nuclear weapons, to replace those currently deployed on Trident submarines, The Independent reported on Monday. "The decision (to replace Trident) has been taken in principle very recently," a senior defense source told the daily on condition of anonymity. A new nuclear deterrent would cost some 10 billion pounds (14.4 billion euros, 18.5 billion dollars), the paper said. Blair, who is currently campaigning hard for his Labour Party to win a third consecutive election this Thursday, last week said he not yet decided on a new deterrent. "We have got to retain our nuclear deterrent. That decision is for another time," he told the BBC. "But I believe that is the right thing." The defense source quoted by The Independent said it took an extremely long time to build new nuclear weapons, which is why the decision had to come far in advance of decommissioning the Tridents, expected in 2024. Britain -- which the source said had to build its own bombs since US law forbade the Americans from constructing nuclear weapons for another country -- has four Trident submarines in service. They each have 16 multiple warhead nuclear missiles with a range of 12,000 kilometers (7,500 miles). |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #11 Our warheads could stand a refresh too... As for priorities being out of whack, it's always been cheaper to build another hundred nukes than to put another 1,000 tanks into Germany. Cold War economics. |
| Posted by: Iblis 2005-05-02 12:31:05 PM |
| #10 Heck, they'd probably be smaller and have a higher J.D.Power quality rating than ours. Jackal, that comment is a riot! |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2005-05-02 11:10:08 AM |
| #9 he's dead, Jim |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-05-02 11:03:16 AM |
| #8 Where's Horatio Nelson when needed? |
| Posted by: Tkat 2005-05-02 10:19:09 AM |
| #7 What's wrong with the Trident system? Nothing, it won't be retired until 2024. Quoting the article: "The defense source... ...said it took an extremely long time to build new nuclear weapons, which is why the decision had to come far in advance of decommissioning the Tridents, expected in 2024." |
| Posted by: Biff Wellington 2005-05-02 10:08:52 AM |
| #6 The warheads are circa 1992, maybe it's a warhead problem, hummmm..... sounds familiar. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2005-05-02 9:49:27 AM |
| #5 phil_b: I don't think it will be necessary. Japan is quite capable of making its own nukes. They're rich enough and have all the technology necessary. Heck, they'd probably be smaller and have a higher J.D.Power quality rating than ours. We'd probably end up buying from them. Australia is another matter, more for the lack of money to build the infrastructure than any shortage know-how. Maybe they can buy some from North Korea or Iran? |
| Posted by: Jackal 2005-05-02 9:27:14 AM |
| #4 Ship, It's old. Must be 70's vintage. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2005-05-02 7:33:33 AM |
| #3 What's wrong with the Trident system? |
| Posted by: Shipman 2005-05-02 7:23:04 AM |
| #2 10 bilion pounds for nukes? When their conventional forces are so severly underfunded? Somebodies priorities are out of whack. We need to get closer ties to the UK so they feel comfortable being under the umbrella and don't waste money on nukes. The Japanese have been smatrt in this regard, though the Koreans and Chinese may make them start to pick up a tab too. |
| Posted by: Mrs. Davis 2005-05-02 6:44:39 AM |
| #1 since US law forbade the Americans from constructing nuclear weapons for another country Sigh! Any chance of this law being revoked? At some time in the future it may well be an issue for Japan and even Australia. And if you can't trust the Brits, Japanese and Aussies, who can you trust? |
| Posted by: phil_b 2005-05-02 6:38:29 AM |