In 1980, the Thatcher government announced that it was going to purchase from the US the Trident nuclear-armed submarine system as a replacement for Britain's ageing Polaris submarines.

Submarines and missiles

The Trident system entered service in 1994. It consists of four nuclear-powered submarines - HMS Vanguard, Victorious, Vigilant and Vengeance. The submarines are based at the Clyde Submarine Base at Faslane, near Glasgow.

Each submarine is equipped with up to 16 US Trident II D5 missiles, designed and produced by the US Lockheed Martin Corporation. Each Trident missile carries up to 48 nuclear warheads, each of which can be sent to a different target.

Trident: Britain's unilateral nuclear arms race

Trident is a major escalation in Britain's nuclear war fighting capability. Trident is technologically much more advanced than Polaris. Its missiles are faster, have a longer range, are more accurate and can hit more targets than Polaris.

The Government claims that it has reduced the total "explosive power" of its nuclear weapons since the end of the Cold War, but this has been largely achieved by replacing older, higher yield warheads such as Polaris with the lower yield, but more flexible Trident warheads which can hit more targets. The technology required to launch Trident is totally dependent upon the US.

For further information on Trident's capability see Secrecy and Dependence: the UK Trident System in the 21st Century , published by the British American Security Information Council .

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