UK’s Trident nuclear-deterrent missile system fails 2nd test in a row

A missile crashed into the sea near the submarine that launched it, an embarrassing outcome for a country that once boasted world’s most powerful naval force

The UK defence minister witnessed the misfire of the US-built system, a report says, during which the first-stage boosters on the missile failed to ignite

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A video grab released on Wednesday shows an unarmed missile launched from the HMS Vigilant. Photo: UK Ministry of Defence via AP

Published: 1:27am, 22 Feb 2024Updated: 2:04am, 22 Feb 2024

Britain’s Trident nuclear-deterrent system misfired during a test last month, sending a missile crashing into the ocean off the Florida coast near the submarine that launched it, The Sun newspaper reported on Wednesday.

The Ministry of Defence confirmed that an “anomaly” had occurred during the test but said Britain’s “nuclear deterrent remains safe, secure and effective”.

With Defence Secretary Grant Shapps on board the HMS Vanguard to witness the test, The Sun said, the first-stage boosters on the missile – equipped with dummy warheads – failed to ignite.

The result marked the second successive test failure of a Trident missile after one was reported to have veered off course in 2016, an embarrassing outcome for a country that once boasted the largest and most powerful naval force in the world.

Crew from HMS Vengeance, a British Royal Navy Vanguard class Trident Ballistic Missile Submarine, stand on their vessel as they return along the Clyde river to the Faslane naval base near Glasgow, Scotland, in December 2006. Photo: Reuters

“It left the submarine but it just went plop, right next to them,” The Sun quoted an unspecified source as saying.