Tactical Nuclear Weapons and NATO.pdf - Program on Strategic ...

weapon holdings did not exceed 225 warheads in the
overall stockpile, with up to 160 operationally available
warheads. It also announced that it would reexamine
the circumstances under which the UK might
use its nuclear weapons. 5 Then, in October 2010, the
Strategic Defence <strong>and</strong> Security Review (SDSR) announced
the aim of a further reduction in declared holdings, to
an overall stockpile of not more than 180 warheads, no
more than 120 operationally available warheads, <strong>and</strong>
with the number of warheads carried on each submarine
on patrol reduced to just 40 on eight operational
missiles. 6
But Britain is also in the throes of early work to
renew its nuclear force with a new generation of submarines.
While the coalition government committed
to replacing the current force, differences between the
coalition partners have affected aspects of the process.
While the Conservatives back a new submarine-based
ballistic missile force, the Liberal Democrats have
questioned the need for a like-for-like replacement. As
a result, a final decision to go ahead with new submarines
has been delayed until 2016, by which time there
will have been a new general election in Britain. So the
in-service date of the first new submarine, if indeed it
is built, has also been delayed from 2024 to 2028. To
accommodate Liberal Democrat policy, a new review
of the options for replacement is under way, which
should be completed by the end of 2012.
These various developments, plus more question
marks over whether the UK Ministry of Defence
(MoD) will be able to afford the expected £15-20 billion
price tag, have led some to believe that a whole
new debate could now take place on the decision to
renew the Trident system, perhaps in the context of
the next UK general election. Those who advocate it
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