[NukeNet] Scotland: Oops! American missile to replace Trident is too big for Britain's nuclear submarines

[Mary Olson]

...well, do you suppose it is to get the UK to purchase new subs... or 
is it possible that this genital enhancement email spam has gone just a 
little too far! (sorry couldn't resist).

Bob Stannard wrote:
> NukeNet Anti-Nuclear Network (nukenet at energyjustice.net)
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> You don’t suppose that we made them bigger as a way to get rid of some 
> of the waste, do you???
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> *From:* nukenet-bounces at energyjustice.net 
> [mailto:nukenet-bounces at energyjustice.net] *On Behalf Of 
> *theroyprocess at cox.net
> *Sent:* Sunday, December 23, 2007 7:07 PM
> *To:* Nukenet
> *Subject:* [NukeNet] Scotland: Oops! American missile to replace 
> Trident is too big for Britain’s nuclear submarines
>
> http://www.sundayherald.com/
>
> news/heraldnews/display.var.
>
> 1924101.0.oops_american_
>
> issile_to_replace_trident_is
>
> _too_big_for_britains_nuclea
>
> r_submarines.php
>
> Comment:
>
> Guess who pays! There is much more profit
>
> in not finding solutions! Close enough for
>
> government work is the mantra!
>
>
>       *Oops! American missile to replace Trident is too big for
>       Britains nuclear submarines*
>
> THE US nuclear-armed missile that the Westminster government is hoping 
> will replace Trident may not actually fit into British submarines, 
> creating a "major headache" for UK weapons designers.
>
> The Sunday Herald has seen evidence that US designers are 
> contemplating new missiles too big to slot into the tubes that house 
> Trident's current D5 missiles.
>
> Tenders to bid for a test-bed for future underwater-launched nuclear 
> missiles issued by the US navy last month specify a missile diameter 
> of up to 120 inches. The diameter of Trident's D5 missile tubes is 87 
> inches.
>
> The former prime minister, Tony Blair, won the support of the House of 
> Commons in March this year for his controversial decision to renew 
> Britain's nuclear weapons by replacing the four Trident submarines, 
> currently stationed at Faslane on the Clyde.
>
> Blair's plan - apparently endorsed by his successor, Gordon Brown - is 
> to start arming the new submarines with the existing Trident missiles 
> but then to replace them with new missiles being designed by the US.
>
> That is why Blair exchanged formal letters with US president George W 
> Bush on December 7, 2006. "The United Kingdom wishes to ensure that 
> any successor to the D5 system is compatible with, or is capable of 
> being made compatible with, the launch system for the D5 missile, 
> which we will in the meantime be installing into our new submarines," 
> Blair wrote.
>
> Bush replied by inviting the UK to take part in the D5 replacement 
> programme or to discuss extending the life of the missiles. "In this 
> respect, any successor to the D5 system should be compatible with, or 
> be capable of being made compatible with, the launch system for the D5 
> missile," he wrote.
>
> Earlier this month defence secretary Des Browne confirmed that UK and 
> US officials had met three times since March to consider missile 
> designs. "Concept studies for the development of a new 
> underwater-launched missile system have been discussed by officials at 
> these meetings," he said.
>
> But critics are now saying that Bush appears to be reneging on his 
> promise to make sure any new missiles would be compatible with 
> existing D5 launch systems. In November the US navy issued a notice 
> inviting companies to bid for a new test-bed for "development testing 
> of underwater-launched missile systems".
>
> The notice said the test-bed should be able to support missiles up to 
> 120 inches in diameter and 200,000lbs in weight, although Trident 
> missile tubes have a diameter of 87 inches and the missiles weigh 
> 130,000lbs. This was because "concepts for future submarines may have 
> missile tubes larger than 87 inches in diameter", the notice said.
>
> John Ainslie, co-ordinator for Scottish CND, said this would going to 
> give the engineers in Barrow responsible for designing Britain's new 
> submarines a big problem. "Common sense would suggest that if you are 
> designing a submarine you must know the dimensions of the missiles it 
> will carry," he said.
>
> "But common sense has no place in the government's plan to build a new 
> nuclear weapon system. The rushed programme to replace Trident could 
> set a new benchmark for ineptitude at the Ministry of Defence MoD.
>
> "Gordon Brown should call a halt to this absurd waste of taxpayers' 
> money."
>
> Ainslie argued it was not credible to arm the new submarines with 
> Trident D5 missiles throughout their life because the US would cease 
> maintaining them. The US navy is planning to withdraw Trident 
> completely by 2042, but the UK wants to operate its new submarines 
> until at least 2055.
>
> He also pointed out that when the UK first bought Trident missiles in 
> the early 1980s, it had to change its order to fit US timescales.
>
> "They will be keen to purchase an underwater-launched missile system. 
> But designing a submarine for an unknown missile will be a nightmare."
>
> A spokeswoman for the MoD said: "We are satisfied the exchange of 
> letters between the previous prime minister and the US president 
> provide us with the necessary assurances that any US successor to the 
> D5 missile should be compatible, or can be made compatible, with the 
> launch system to be installed in our new submarines."
>
> 9:39pm Saturday 22nd December 2007
>
> /By Rob Edwards, Environment Editor/
>
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