On 22nd November 2023, the APPG on Global Security and Non-Proliferation hosted an APPG meeting, ‘Does Britain’s Deterrent Policy Need Updating?’, chaired by Lord David Hannay of Chiswick.
Britain’s nuclear deterrent
Report: How much does the UK spend on nuclear weapons?
This report draws upon a mixture of publicly available data and estimates in order to outline both the current operating costs of the Trident nuclear weapon system, as well as the estimated costs of the current plans to renew the UK’s nuclear arsenal.
UK’s Trident nuclear submarines ‘vulnerable to catastrophic hack’
In June 2017, the Guardian pubished an article exploring some of the key themes of BASIC's cyber security report, Hacking UK Trident. It acknowledged some of Tridents' cyber vulnerabilities, as identified in the report and gauged the reaction of Des Browne, the former UK defence secretary:
Report highlights Trident nuclear hack vulnerabilities
BASIC’s cyber security report, Hacking UK Trident recently featured in a number of national and international defence publications and media pages.
Report: Hacking UK Trident: A Growing Threat
This paper reviews the growing potential for cyber-attack on the UK’s operational fleet of Vanguard-class submarines armed with nuclear-tipped Trident II D-5 ballistic missiles, and some of the implications for strategic stability.
UK revokes ICJ jurisdiction over its nuclear weapons
The UK Government has inhibited the International Court of Justice (ICJ) from ruling on cases about nuclear weapons or nuclear disarmament, including if it uses Trident against another country.
The Implications of the Trident Test Failure
Executive Director of BASIC, Paul Ingram, recently authored a piece in the Huffington Post in response to the late surfacing of the June Trident test failure.
How serious was the Trident missile test failure?
On 22nd January, BASIC Executive Director, Paul Ingram was quoted in the US Defence Journal for his analysis of the recent Trident missile test failure.
“It is a complex system. It is an amazing feat of human engineering but everything has to work or there is catastrophic failure and a catastrophic failure can have catastrophic consequences.”
Read the full article here.