According to an ex-Navy chief, Vladimir Putin is aware that Britain’s nuclear deterrence still functions despite two botched Trident 2 missile launches.
Lord West, a former First Sea Lord, said that the embarrassing Trident missile failures were disappointing, but he insisted that the nuclear weapons would be effective in a third world war.
The Royal Navy submarine HMS Vanguard was responsible for launching a Trident 2 D5 missile, which crashed in the ocean close to the launch site after a severe malfunction.
Two failed launches have occurred since 2016. The first one happened when a missile launched by HMS Vengeance went off course and destroyed itself.
Since the deterrent is vital to Britain’s defense, the ineffectiveness of the tests prompted worries that Moscow may feel encouraged by them. More than a decade has passed since a Royal Navy submarine successfully launched a Trident missile.
The Admiral said that after careful testing, they can confidently say that the system is operational and can see where the problem originated. He claims Russia refrained from sending a spy ship to see the January 30 launch of the Trident 2 missiles because of their reliability.
He claims that in the past, the Russians would send an intelligence ship to keep tabs on these gunshots. But they don’t bother anymore because the Trident is so effective.
As Lord West pointed out, the test failure had a depressing effect on the entire crew of HMS Vanguard. Its return to the Atlantic was due to the inability of the first-stage rocket boosters to ignite. One account claims it appeared to “plop” down next to them as soon as it departed the submarine. But since they had discovered what had gone wrong, he said, morale had skyrocketed.
After a seven-year, £500 million overhaul, HMS Vanguard is finally back in active service thanks to the crew’s and the ship’s flawless completion of all drill tests.
The crew of the Vanguard impressed the Americans, he said. They said it was a top-tier staff that went through the test facility. According to the MoD, an issue occurred, but they stressed that the nuclear weapon is still effective.
