British lawmakers want answers after a test launch of a missile from one of Britain’s Trident nuclear submarines misfired and instead “fell” into the ocean, POLITICO reports.
The Sun newspaper reported on Tuesday night that Defence Secretary Grant Shapps was on board HMS Vanguard, one of four British nuclear submarines, to observe the failed test launch on January 30 off the coast of Florida.
The Ministry of Defence acknowledged in a statement that an “anomaly” had occurred, but said the test “confirmed the effectiveness of Britain’s nuclear deterrent”.
The opposition Labour Party has requested comment on the incident and is expected to update MPs on the nuclear deterrent programme on Wednesday. An unnamed source cited by the Sun said of the launch:
It left the submarine but it just went plop, right next to them.
The paper reported that the sub was fitted with dummy warheads during the test. The Ministry of Defence says HMS Vanguard passed “all tests during the recent Demonstration and Showcase Operation (DASO), a routine test to confirm that a submarine can return to service after deep maintenance”. The statement went on:
The test has reaffirmed the effectiveness of the UK’s nuclear deterrent, in which we have absolute confidence. During the test an anomaly occurred. As a matter of national security, we cannot provide further information on this, however we are confident that the anomaly was event specific, and therefore there are no implications for the reliability of the wider Trident missile systems and stockpile.
Previously, the British Trident nuclear system was tested in 2016. However, that launch also ended in failure after the missile veered off course.
Shadow defence secretary John Healey, an opposite colleague of Shapps, called the missile failure “alarming” and urged the defence secretary to “reassure parliament that this test will not affect the effectiveness of UK deterrence operations”.
