The fourth of BASIC’s 2016 Parliamentary Briefing series relating to the Trident debate focuses on the UK’s role in multilateral nuclear disarmament.
Publication
CASD: Options for Trident Patrolling
The third of BASIC's 2016 Parliamentary Briefing series relating to the Trident debate focuses on the issue of continuous-at-sea-deterrence (CASD).
David Cameron announced at the NATO summit in Warsaw on Saturday, “a parliamentary vote [to be held] on July 18 to confirm MP's support for the renewal of four nuclear submarines capable of providing around the clock cover”. Theresa May is expected to follow through with this decision.
A Primer on Trident’s Cyber Vulnerabilities
The second of BASIC’s 2016 Parliamentary Briefing series relating to the Trident debate is a primer on Trident’s cyber vulnerabilities. Cyber threats impact both critical civilian infrastructure and all military systems dependent upon digital control and communications.
The Inescapable Net: Unmanned Systems in Anti-Submarine Warfare
The first of BASIC’s 2016 Parliamentary Briefing series relating to the Trident debate outlines the state of drone technology today relevant to anti-submarine warfare. Author David Hambling uses open sources to explore how small drone technology will impact the future detection and tracking of submarines.
Report: Beyond the Ban: The humanitarian initiative of nuclear disarmament and advocacy of no-first-use nuclear doctrines
Deep dissatisfaction with the lack of progress in multilateral nuclear disarmament has led a large number of states within the international community to participate in a process to highlight the humanitarian impacts of nuclear weapons.
Feeding the ‘Monster’: Escalating Capital Costs for the Trident Successor Programme
In October 2015 Jon Thomson, Permanent Under Secretary at the Ministry of Defence, described the Trident Successor programme as a “monster” that kept him up at night, “the biggest project the Ministry of Defence will ever take on” and “an incredibly complicated area in which to try to estimate future costs.”
Non-state actors & WMD: Does ISIS have a pathway to a nuclear weapon?
On March 2014, during the Nuclear Security Summit held in the Netherlands, President Obama identified his number one concern as being the prospect of a nuclear weapon going off in Manhattan. UK Home Secretary Theresa May pinpointed her particular fear of the so-called Islamic State (ISIS) acquisition of “chemical, biological or even nuclear weapons” in the “world’s first truly terrorist state”. Fortunately, there has not yet been a nuclear or radiological terrorist attack, but the smuggling of nuclear material remains a pivotal threat to nuclear security.
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.