The Anonymous Widower

Do We Need Trident?

Trident is going to cost £20 billion to replace and the government has announced that the MoD must find the full cost from its budget.  So if we renew it, other programs will have to be cut back.

I don’t think that we now need programs such as Trident! When we had an obvious enemy in the Cold War, it was different, but suppose some Iranian terrorists planned to let off a bomb in London, would being able to bomb Teheran deter them? Of course not! Perhaps all we need is a few submarine- or air-lauched cruise missiles, so that we could make sure that we got some revenge.

I also question other programs like the two aircraft carriers.  For the type of wars we would fight today, it would be better to stay with our current smaller ones and Harriers.

The trouble is that defence has nothing to do with what you need, it’s all about pride.  If say the French have nuclear weapons and aircraft carriers, our politicians feel, we should have them too.

It could be argued that the British intervention in Sierra Leone to help end the civil war there is a model for how our forces should be used to bring peace and stability to the world.  Have we got the right forces and equipment to do the same again?

July 30, 2010 - Posted by AnonW | World | Defence