UK Trident program

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"Trident" submarine (SSBN) 'HMS Vanguard'

'Diagramatic view of a Trident II D5 missile'

Trident, in colloquial usage, refers to the the United Kingdom's ballistic missile submarine-based nuclear deterrent. Although the term "Trident" has come to be identified with the missile launch system including the Vanguard class submarine as well as the missile and warheads, the term more correctly refers to the missile component of the system in isolation. Similarly "Polaris" was the name used for the previous generation of missile and Resolution class submarine.

The Royal Navy has 4 Vanguard class ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs), each carrying 16 Trident II D-5 submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs), with each missile capable of carrying up to 12 warheads (MIRV). This replaced the previous system of 4 Resolution class SSBNs each carrying 16 Polaris A3 missiles (known as A3T) with 3 ET.317 warheads (not MIRV'ed), latter upgraded by the Chevaline programme to A3TK with a limited MIRV capability.

This system is very similar to the US Navy's 14 Ohio class SSBNs carrying 24 Trident D5's each with up to 8 W88 or W76 warheads.

The Trident missile agreement was reached in 1982 as a modification of the Polaris Sales Agreement. At the time it was envisaged the entire project; four submarines, the missiles, new facilities at Coulport and Faslane and a 5% contribution to Trident research and development, would cost £5 billion. The option for a fifth submarine was discussed at the time.

"Trident" entered service in 1994. Since the 1998 Strategic Defence Review, when the WE.177 tactical nuclear weapon was retired, it has been the UK's sole nuclear deterrent.

The current Vanguard Class submarines were built at what is now BAE Systems Submarine Solutions in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, the only British submarine yard. The previous Resolution class submarines were constructed at Barrow and at Cammell Laird in Birkenhead (now closed).

1 UK nuclear policy
2 Cost
3 Numbers
4 Basing
5 Politics
6 Replacement
7 See also
8 References

[edit] UK nuclear policy

The principle of operation is based on maintaining deterrent effect by always having at least one submarine at sea, and was designed for the Cold War period. One submarine is normally undergoing maintenance and the remaining two are in port or on training exercises. The missiles were "detargetted" in 1994 in time for the maiden voyage of the first Vanguard class SSBN.^[1]

Each submarine carries up to 16 Trident II D-5 missiles, each of which can contain up to twelve warheads (i.e. a potential of 192 warheads), however the British government announced in 1998 that each submarine would carry no more than 48 warheads total (without indicating how the warheads would be divided among the missiles).^[2] While this number is half the limit specified by the previous government, it represents a 50% increase in capacity over the Trident's predecessor, the Polaris A3TK Chevaline.

The United Kingdom has purchased the rights to 58 Trident missiles under the Polaris Sales Agreement (modified for Trident) from a jointly maintained "pool." These missiles are fitted with UK-built warheads and are exchanged when requiring maintenance. Under the terms of the agreement the United States does not have any veto on the use of British nuclear weapons.^[3]

While the British government states the warheads used in the UK Trident system were "designed and manufactured in the UK at the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE), Aldermaston," declassified U.S. Department of Energy documents indicate the warhead system was involved in non-nuclear design actives along side the U.S. W76 nuclear warhead fitted in some US Navy Trident missiles.^[4] The National Audit Office noted that most of the warhead development and production expenditure was incurred in the US.^[5]^[6] The U.S. President authorised the transfer of nuclear warhead components to the UK between the years 1991 to 1996.^[7] This has lead the Federation of American Scientists to speculate that the U.K. warhead may share design information from the W76; a practice which is encouraged by the 1958 US-UK Mutual Defence Agreement.^[8]

[edit] Cost

The total acquisition costs of the Trident programme were £9.8 billion, or £14.9 billion at 2005 prices, 38% of which was incurred in the U.S. In 2005/2006 annual expenditure for running and capital costs was estimated at between £1.2bn and £1.7bn and are estimated to rise to £2bn to £2.2bn in 2007/2008, including Atomic Weapons Establishment costs. Since Trident became operational in 1994, annual expenditure has ranged between 3% and 4.5% of the annual defence budget, and is expected to increase to 5.5% of the defence budget by 2007/2008.^[9]^[6]

The Vanguard submarines which carry the Trident D5 missiles were built with a 25 year life expectancy. Plans have been announced to replace the four boats as they reach 25 (possibly extended to 30). Trident's D5 missiles, leased from the USA, are expected to continue in service until at least 2042 following an upgrade. Costs are uncertain, depending on whether the replacement programme buys four completely new design boats (probably £20bn), modifies the design of the Astute SSN to carry four D5 missiles (uncertain), or simply acquires four new Vanguard class boats (probably less than £8bn).

It is also uncertain whether the replacement programme will buy three hulls or four. Four hulls guarantees "Continuous At Sea Deterrence". Three hulls present a risk that continuity is broken.

[edit] Numbers

Test launch of a Trident D5 SLBM

While the theoretical capacity of the 4 vanguard class boats is 64 missiles and 512 warheads, only 58 missiles were purchased and some have been expended in test firings. The UK purchased the missiles but they are pooled with the Atlantic squadron of the USN Ohio SSBN's at King's Bay, Georgia (previously the UK maintained its Polaris missiles).

The number of warheads is significantly less than originally intended due to changing strategic situation (ie demise of the USSR). Currently there are less than 200 warheads, and the number is anticipated to drop close to 160 in near future.

This is also in part due to the service pattern. 1 boat is always on patrol, 1 to 2 boats are in port or on training exercises and 1 boat is undergoing maintenance.

In the Strategic Defence Review published in July 1998, the British Government stated that once the Vanguard submarines became fully operational (the fourth and final one, Vengeance, entered service on 27 November 1999), it would "maintain a stockpile of fewer than 200 operationally available warheads" [1]. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute has estimated the figure as about 165, consisting of 144 deployed weapons plus an extra 15% as spares^[10] Spares are usually needed within the supply chain, including the maintenance workshops.

At the same time, the British Government indicated that warheads "required to provide a necessary processing margin and for technical surveillance purposes" were not included in the "fewer than 200" figure [2]. However, as recently declassified archived documents on Chevaline make clear, the 15% excess (referred to by SIPRI as for spares) is normally intended to 'provide the necessary processing margin' and 'surveillance rounds do not contain any nuclear material' being completely inert. These surveillance rounds are used to monitor deterioration in the many non-nuclear components of the warhead, and are best compared with inert training rounds. The SIPRI figures correspond accurately with the official announcements and are likely to be the most accurate. The Natural Resources Defense Council speculates that a figure of 200 is accurate to within a few tens,^[11] and the World Almanac speculates that the number is between 200 and 300, but fails to produce any hard evidence. Experience with earlier weapons has demonstrated that it is dangerous to speculate in this area, and the speculation has invariably been proved wrong.

[edit] Basing

Main article: HMNB Clyde

"Trident" is based at HMNB Clyde, in western Scotland. This comprises two facilities, a submarine berth at Faslane and ordnance depot at RNAD Coulport.

[edit] Politics

According to the British House of Commons' Defence Select Committee, the original purpose of Trident was to discourage aggression against the UK, its allies and its interests from the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact.

[edit] Opposition

The Trident system has received significant opposition during its development. The most visible opposition has stemmed from the more general use of nuclear weapons, and also from Trident's status under international law. Trident is also seen by some, such as the Scottish Nationalist Party, as a sticking point in relations between the Scottish Parliament and Westminster, since the submarines which carry the missiles are based at HMNB Clyde in Scotland, but controlled by the Ministry of Defence, in London.

[edit] Activism

Several groups have taken action against Trident, including the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and Trident Ploughshares, a group set up specifically to oppose the Trident system. In 2006 a year-long protest at Trident's base at Faslane, named Faslane 365, was initiated with the aim of blockading the base every day for one year. As of 26 January, 50 groups had taken part in blockades, leading to 474 arrests.

Trident Ploughshares describes their opposition as follows:

We believe that the use or threatened use of nuclear weapons is totally immoral and irresponsible and that the Trident system is illegal under international law. Our disarmament action is necessary since the UK government has to date shown no signs of any intention to dismantle the system. As citizens we have both a right and a duty to uphold international humanitarian law. The UK’s Trident nuclear weapons system is based on 4 submarines which carry between 12 and 16 missiles, each of which can deliver a number of 100 kiloton warheads to individual targets - mass destruction on an unimaginable level.^[12]

[edit] Scottish politics

A number of Scottish Parliamentary parties, such as the Scottish Green Party, Scottish Socialist Party and the Scottish National Party, have policies opposing the use of Trident missiles at Faslane in Scotland. Some members and ex-members of those parties, such as Tommy Sheridan, have taken part in blockades of the base there.

In addition to more general anti-nuclear feeling, some see Trident as symbolic of differences in political opinion between Scotland and the wider UK - for example, in a major House of Commons vote the majority of Scottish MPs voted against upgrading the system, while a substantial majority of UK MPs voted in favour^[13].

[edit] Legality

Further information: International Court of Justice advisory opinion on the Legality of the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons and Governance and Control of Nuclear Weapons

On 8 July 1996 the International Court of Justice, the highest court of the United Nations, handed down an advisory opinion that stated that the threat or use of nuclear weapons would in most cases violate various articles of international law, including the Geneva Conventions, the Hague Conventions, the UN Charter, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

On 19 December 2005 Rabinder Singh QC and Professor Christine Chinkin, a colleague of Cherie Blair at Matrix Chambers, handed down a legal opinion at the request of Peacerights^[14] which specifically addressed

"whether Trident or a likely replacement to Trident breaches customary international law"^[15]

Drawing on the ICJ opinion, Singh and Chinkin argued that:

"The use of the Trident system would breach customary international law, in particular because it would infringe the "intransgressible" [principles of international customary law] requirement that a distinction must be drawn between combatants and non-combatants."^[15]

In addition, Singh and Chinkin argued:

"The replacement of Trident is likely to constitute a breach of article VI of the NPT...[and that] [s]uch a breach would be a material breach of that treaty."^[15]

[edit] Response

On 25 January 2007, Des Browne, UK Defence Minister, defended the use of Trident:

"I do not believe it makes sense to say that nuclear weapons are inherently evil. In certain circumstances, they can play a positive role - as they have in the past. But clearly they have a power to do great harm," he said.

"Are we prepared to tolerate a world in which countries which care about morality lay down their nuclear weapons, leaving others to threaten the rest of the world or hold it to ransom?"^[16]

[edit] Replacement

Main article: British replacement of the Trident system

The British replacement of Trident is a proposal to replace the existing Trident weapons system based on four Vanguard class submarines each armed with 16 Trident II submarine-launched ballistic missiles. The government has begun planning a new submarine-based system but there is some opposition to this proposal, including from those who want to take the opportunity for full nuclear disarmament. There is also some controversy over the legality of Trident. Proposals to replace the Trident system were passed by the House of Commons by a majority of 248 on the 14 March 2007.^[17]