The UK Parliament will be voting tonight on the principle of replacing Trident nuclear weapons system. It is a symbolic commitment, unconnected to any contracts or procurement timetable. Meanwhile, the government commitment to leave the EU is stoking calls for a second Scottish referendum. As the UK’s nuclear weapons submarines have their only base in Scotland, voting for Trident before coming to an agreement about the UK’s future makes no sense.
Analysis
NATO Military Buildup Aimed at ‘Ensuring Reasons’ of Alliance’s Existence
NATO countries recently finalized arrangements to boost the alliance's rotational presence in Eastern Europe with four battalions in 2017. In an interview with Sputnik, Paul Ingram, Executive Director of the British American Security Information Council, commented on the issue.
“There is no doubt that it [the summit] is aimed at Russia. But it is also aimed at attempting to draw in and ensure that the alliance is cohesive,” the Paul Ingram said.
Commons Vote on Trident Imminent?
The UK Conservative government is considering pushing a rushed vote on Trident in July to divert attention from Brexit debates and exploit Labour’s internal divisions. However, such a move could be premature and politically risky. Delaying the vote could yield greater strategic benefits and allow more comprehensive debate and planning.
Remembering Jo Cox MP
BASIC today mourns the death of Jo Cox MP, an extraordinary dynamo of energy and positive action. She worked tirelessly for a better world, and her death was a senseless act of violence.
Concerning SSBN Vulnerability - recent papers
Two BASIC papers published in recent months (The Inescapable Net: Unmanned Systems in Anti-Submarine Warfare and A Primer on Trident's Cyber Vulnerabilities), have asserted the UK’s strategic nuclear deterrent is in danger of becoming vulnerable in such a way that it can no longer be relied upon to fulfil its primary role.
Understanding the New Arms Race
The stand-off between Russia and the West has prompted triggered fears of a renewed East-West. Amidst this climate of confrontation, nuclear weapons have regained some relevance for strategists on both sides, and political leaders have implied veiled nuclear threats.
The 2016 Nuclear Security Summit Returns to Washington
In his 2009 speech in Prague, President Obama described the threat of terrorists acquiring nuclear weapons as the “most immediate and extreme threat to global security”. Setting the bar high, he also announced the start of a global summit process that would focus on the security of nuclear materials from the threat of theft and terrorism in and work “to secure all vulnerable nuclear material around the world within four years”.
Trident is Vulnerable
A debate is now raging over BASIC's exposure of the threat emerging technologies present to the future viability of Trident submarines. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) states they do not believe it is a problem, and that even if it were submarines would still be the best, most stealthy platform for nuclear missiles. The confidence implied in the MoD's public line is unjustified, and must surely cover up a deep concern held by strategists for the future viability of its most expensive weapon system.