The UK government has said it plans to significantly increase its stockpile of nuclear warheads in response to the changing global nuclear security environment. In particular, the country will increase its stockpile to 260 warheads, reversing a decision made a decade ago to reduce the maximum number of warheads from 225 to 180 by the mid-2020s. The country is clearly changing the vector of development of the Armed Forces in favor of increasing nuclear and strategic forces.
We decided to arm ourselves
Depending on the decision on how many warheads will be purchased, the UK could significantly increase its nuclear arsenal. The government said that this decision is justified, since other states tend not to get rid of nuclear weapons, but to modernize them.
Although previously, the UK was ready to reduce its nuclear potential. In 2015, it was announced that as a result of the reduction of nuclear weapons, Vanguard-class submarines (Russian name “Avangard”) will carry 40 warheads and no more than 8 Trident missiles.
The exact size of the nuclear arsenal of the United Kingdom is not officially disclosed, now it is believed that it has about 225 thermonuclear warheads, this is the maximum number of nuclear warheads that London had. Of these, 160 are on alert. It has now been announced that the country will increase its stockpile to 260 warheads.
Currently, the UK’s strategic nuclear forces are represented only by the naval component. This is the 1st submarine squadron, which includes four Vanguard-class submarines equipped with Trident-2 submarine-launched ballistic missiles (16 missiles with a separable head with individual guidance units, capable of carrying up to eight warheads with a capacity of 0.1-0.15 Mt). The maximum firing range of a missile depends on the number of warheads installed on it: with three warheads-up to 10,500 km, with one warhead-up to 11,500 km.
The nuclear warheads that the United Kingdom possesses are thermonuclear or boosted devices with a maximum power of 100 kt, having a number of common features with the American W76 nuclear warhead. These warheads are manufactured and maintained in the United States. The UK leases the missiles from a “shared arsenal” with the United States, and they are loaded onto British submarines in Kings Bay, Georgia.
Add fire
The UK is also planning to develop a new warhead, which they want to synchronize with the US development of the new W93 warhead. Experts estimate that it will take more than a decade to design, build, and eventually deploy a new type of warhead. It is planned that the new warheads will eventually be armed with four promising submarines of the “Dreadnought” class, the construction of which has now begun, they will replace the “Vanguard” type submarines. The new submarines will have 12 rocket launchers.