nuclear-news

With election coming, British government covered up serious missile test incident

UK government covered up ‘disastrous failure’ in nuclear missile test: report, DW 22 Jan 17 A British newspaper has alleged that an unarmed nuclear missile veered off course and headed toward the US in a 2016 test. The Trident system is the country’s only nuclear weapon system and aims to deter threats. The British government covered up a failed test of a nuclear missile system last year, just weeks before lawmakers voted to renew it, “The Sunday Times” newspaper alleged on Sunday.

The newspaper cited an anonymous senior naval source who claimed that the unarmed Trident II D5 missile failed after being launched from a British submarine off the coast of the US state of Florida in June.

The cause of the failure was top secret, but the source said the missile may have accidentally veered towards the mainland.

“There was a major panic at the highest level of government and the military after the first test of our nuclear deterrent in four years ended in disastrous failure,” the source told the paper.

“Ultimately, Downing Street decided to cover up the failed test. If the information was made public, they knew how damaging it would be to the credibility of our nuclear deterrent.”

The source said an upcoming parliamentary vote on the Trident system on July 18 had made the failure “all the more sensitive.”……http://www.dw.com/en/uk-government-covered-up-disastrous-failure-in-nuclear-missile-test-report/a-37230406

January 23, 2017 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | general