Number 10 Downing Street cover-up
Theresa May refuses FOUR TIMES to say if she knew of failed test (test failed last June)
- Malfunction occurred just weeks before key Commons vote on Trident renewal
- But Downing Street imposed a 'news blackout' about the failed test last June
- Lord West says decision not to disclose it was 'extraordinary' and 'bizarre'
- Missile was fired from HMS Vengeance during test in June near coast of Florida
- PM accused of omitting any reference to failed test and dodged questions today
- Ministers will be forced to make urgent statement to Parliament tomorrow
22 January 2017 from the Daily Mail, UK
"The former head of the Royal Navy blasted No10 today over its 'bizarre and stupid' decision to 'cover up' a major malfunction in the UK's Trident nuclear missile deterrent and said it made Britain look like North Korea.
"It was claimed last night that Downing Street imposed a 'news blackout' about the failed test just weeks before a crucial Commons vote on the future of Britain's nuclear deterrent.
"Today Theresa May refused four times to say if she knew about a major malfunction in the UK's Trident nuclear missile deterrent.
"But Admiral Lord West, who led the Navy from 2002-2006 and later served as a security minister, said the decision not to admit the failed test was 'extraordinary'.
"The PM is facing calls to 'come clean' about what she knew about the botched test by giving a statement to Parliament tomorrow. However it is more likely to be Defence Secretary Michael Fallon who will make the statement to MPs.
"A Trident II D5 missile veered off course during a test last June near the coast of Florida last June, the Sunday Times reported. "
The missile was supposed to head towards Africa, however, it ended up heading towards the US, Florida to be specific.
The TRIDENT missile is part of the UK's Nuclear deterrent force. It is designed to be launched from a submarine.The PM was accused of omitting any reference to the failed test when the Commons voted in July to spend £31billion on four new Trident submarines.
Today she repeatedly avoided direct questions on her knowledge of the test, simply saying she had 'absolute faith in our Trident missiles'.
Lord West hit out at ministers and officials over their failure to disclose the episode and said it was probably the work of some 'silly' special adviser [Spad] trying to be 'clever'.
(more)
Understanding what a TRIDENT missile is:
Designation: UGM-133 Trident II
Weight 130,000 lb (59,000 kg)
Length 44 ft 6.6 in (13.579 m)
Diameter 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) (1st stage)
Warhead 8-12 thermonuclear MIRV (Multiple Independently Targetable re-entry Vehicle); Maneuverable Re-entry Vehicle, W88 or W76 thermonuclear weapons
What is a W88 or W76 atomic weapon?
Roughly 1/2 a megaton TNT equivalent
A single Trident missile then could have on average yield (through the MIRV concept) 5 megatons (million tons) per missile capacity.
Comparisons
Hiroshima bomb yield 16 thousand tons TNT equivalent blast force
Nagasaki bomb yleid 21 thousand tons TNT equivalent blast force
A single W88 blast effects:
If UK targeted Moscow, what would the blast from ONE W88 thermonuclear warhead explosion look like?
An attack Scenario:
If an EMP high altitude AIR BURST (stratospheric) were performed first, all of the non-electromagnetically hardened infrastructure (powerlines, cellphone, computers) vehicle electric systems, refrigeration for foodstores, etc. would go down, creating mass chaos. Subsequent TRIDENT MIRV launches on strategic targets would then occur.
UK said, well, the missile which was headed for FLORIDA was not armed..
Prime Minister May is expected soon to meet with President Trump.
What is the known UK Nuclear submarine fleet?
Britain's nuclear weapons deterrent - It consists of four Vanguard-class submarines which can carry up to 16 Trident II D5 ballistic missiles, each armed with up to eight nuclear warheads.
Each UK submarine then could be outfitted with about about 80 megatons of nuclear strike force power. The UK's submarine fleet then without reloading would have about 320 megatons of nuclear strike force power.