Tested off the coast of Florida on the 30th of last month
Another failure in 8 years since June 2016
It has been confirmed that the British Navy’s first nuclear missile test in eight years has failed again.
According to the Financial Times (FT) and BBC on the 20th (local time), the British Ministry of Defense confirmed that the test launch of the ‘Trident II’ submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) conducted off the coast of Florida on the 30th of last month failed again. did.
The missile was launched from the nuclear submarine ‘HMS Vanguard’.
The Sun reported on the 30th of last month that the HMS Vanguard was spotted at Port Canaveral, Florida, and that the U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGIA) had issued a warning indicating the missile’s expected path to ships passing through the mid-Atlantic.
The missile was initially planned to fly 6,000 km and then fall into the sea between Brazil and West Africa. However, the first stage rocket failed to ignite and fell into the nearby sea.
This is another failure eight years since June 2016. At the time, she was firing at HMS Vengers off the coast of Florida when it went off course and self-destructed.
The maximum range of the Trident 2 missile is 12,000 km. It can be equipped with a nuclear warhead, but it was not mounted in this test.
It is said that British Secretary of Defense Grant Shacks and Navy Commander were on board HMS Vanguard at the time of this test launch.
Despite the failure of a nuclear missile test launch for the first time in eight years, the British Ministry of Defense stated that “the UK’s nuclear deterrent maintains absolute confidence.”
“Trident is the world’s most reliable weapons system, having completed more than 190 successful tests,” the Department of Defense said in a statement. The last successful launch of a Trident missile by the UK was in 2012.
Secretary Shacks is expected to explain the missile test launch failure to the House of Representatives on the 21st.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.