by Felix Richter, Statista.com
— this post authored by Martin Armstrong
The UK government has voted to renew the country’s nuclear deterrent, Trident.
Beside the obvious moral implications of such a vote, at an expected cost of at least 31 billion pounds to replace the four soon to be decommissioned submarines, even MPs in favour of keeping a nuclear arsenal had to mull over the pros and cons of such a significant financial commitment.
Since 1969 there has been, at any one time, a so called Continuous At Sea Deterrence, CASD, tasked with protecting the United Kingdom’s sovereignty in the event of an attack of similar magnitude from one of the globes other nuclear powers. The fleet of four subs is now due to be replaced with the approval vote four days ago.
Once in service, the vessels are forecast to cost around six percent of the UK’s total defence budget. The question being asked by many today is, is it worth it.
This chart covers key facts and figures regarding Trident and its potential renewal.
You will find more statistics at Statista.