The British Navy conducted an unsuccessful launch of a Trident II D5 ballistic missile
The British Navy launched an unsuccessful Trident II D5 ballistic missile from the submarine HMS Vanguard, which was carrying the country's Defense Minister Grant Shapps. The missile veered off course and "just plopped down next to the submarine." Over the past eight years, the UK has tested Trident twice, and both launches ended in failure. Details can be found in the material of "Gazeta.Ru".
The British Navy conducted an unsuccessful launch of the Trident II D5 intercontinental ballistic missile from the nuclear submarine HMS Vanguard. The head of the Ministry of Defense of the Kingdom, Grant Shapps, and the first sea Lord (head of the Navy), Admiral Ben Key, were on board at that time, The Sun newspaper reported .
The launch was carried out on January 30 as part of a training mission in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Florida (USA). It was assumed that the missile would fly 6 thousand km and hit a point in the central part of the Atlantic between Brazil and West Africa. However, according to sources of the publication, after the launch of the Trident II, the D5 "just plopped" into the ocean next to the submarine and sank.
After that, the British Ministry of Defense initiated an investigation into the circumstances of the incident and a search for the projectile. The department explained the unsuccessful tests by the fact that "an anomaly occurred" during the launch. At the same time, the Ministry of Defense of the kingdom noted that the crew of the submarine had proved "full readiness to manage the continuous naval deterrence of Great Britain."
"The test confirmed the effectiveness of the British nuclear deterrent force, of which we are absolutely confident. An anomaly occurred during the test. For reasons of national security, we cannot provide additional information on this issue," the country's defense ministry said in a statement.
The second failed test
In the 21st century, the UK has tested Trident II D5 five times. The last launch before the failed tests in 2024 was made in 2016, the rocket was launched from the Vengeance submarine also off the coast of Florida.
According to the plans of the British Ministry of Defense, the Trident II D5, not equipped with a nuclear warhead, was supposed to fly 9 thousand km and hit a target southeast of Ascension Island. However, the missile probably deviated from its course and flew towards the US coast, The Sunday Times newspaper reported . The source of the publication added that the malfunction occurred after the Trident II D5 was launched from under water.
The British government then chose to hide the failed tests. The newspaper noted that the failed launch occurred several weeks before the House of Representatives of the kingdom's parliament was going to hold a vote on the use of Trident missiles.
The Sunday Times also noted that Theresa May, who became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom a few weeks after the incident, never mentioned it. Moreover, May was also able to convince the British parliament to allocate £40 million for the Trident modernization program.
After the publication of this material, the official representative of the head of the British government said that the new prime minister was informed about the Trident missile tests upon taking office. Theresa May herself, in an interview with BBC correspondent Andrew Marr, avoided a direct question about whether she knew about this incident.
The Ministry of Defense of the kingdom did not provide a compilation of information about the failed launch, saying only that "it was successful."
"Her Majesty's ship (submarine. - "Newspaper."Vengeance and its crew have been successfully tested and have been declared ready to perform a cycle of operational tasks," said the head of the department, Michael Fallon, speaking in the British Parliament.
He also added that the country's Defense Ministry does not comment on the details of operations involving submarines.
Eva Vishnevskaya