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Page 3 of 6 Usable nuclear weapons
In its response to the Defence Select Committee Inquiry the government maintains that:
‘We do not see Trident as a weapon system for fighting wars, but as having a fundamentally
political role in deterring aggression. We would only ever contemplate its use in extreme
circumstances of self-defence’.18
The implication of the ‘deterrent’ notion, as suggested above, is that the weapons would
never be used, and certainly only if the existence of the country was at stake. Contrary to this
however, the 1998 Strategic Defence Review assumes that Trident also has a sub-strategic
role and, ‘The credibility of deterrence relies upon retaining an option for a limited strike that
would not automatically lead to a full scale nuclear exchange.19 The first DSC Inquiry defines
this kind of attack as a ‘sub-strategic strike’, which ‘would involve the launch of one or a
limited number of missiles against an adversary as a means of conveying a political message,
warning or demonstration of resolve’.20
In 2002, prior to the war on Iraq, the then British Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon indicated on
more than one occasion that Trident might also actually be used in a first strike capacity as a
pre-emptive attack against a proportionate threat (including chemical or biological weapons
threats) and that this could be against a non-nuclear weapon state.21 More recently the Defence
White Paper states that ambiguity will deliberately be maintained and therefore, ‘we will not
rule in or out the first use of nuclear weapons.’22
Also contrary to the assertion above, the UK is enhancing the Trident system and making it
more flexible and therefore more usable. For example, in 2003 new computers were installed
on Trident submarines which mean the missiles can now be rapidly retargeted23 and £28.4
million has been spent on acquiring a new fire-control system (to be deployed in 2010) which
will improve their targeting.24 An upgrade to the nuclear warheads has also been scheduled.
The government describe this as a ‘relatively minor upgrading and refurbishment during the
first half of the next decade’.25 This will enable Trident warheads to remain in service until at
least the 2020s.
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