Last June, the Royal Navy submarine HMS Vengeance test fired a dummy Trident II D5 nuclear ballistic missile while cruising in the Atlantic off the coast of Florida. The missile was supposed to fly 5,600 miles (9,012 km) to a target at sea off the west coast of Africa. Instead, the missile veered towards the US.
There are no reports that the missile hit the US mainland. On the other hand, there are very few reports about the incident at all. The failed test was allegedly covered up in the weeks before the British Parliament approved a £40billion Trident renewal program.
Theresa May, Britain’s prime minister, has refused to say whether she knew about an unarmed Trident missile that reportedly failed when it was test-fired off the coast of Florida last year. Ms. May told BBC she has total confidence in Britain’s Trident nuclear launching system, but didn’t confirm or deny a newspaper report about the alleged failure of a ballistic missile designed to carry nuclear warheads.
Opponents of the Trident program are now demanding an inquiry into the reported missile failure and the possible cover-up.
That is quite a story Rick. Most likely it was fired off the coast near Port Canaveral. Back in the day I was on the USS James C. Owens DD776 and we were with USS Von Steuben, a nuke boat, doing her “First Firing for Peace” as it was billed then. It was a similar deal although it was Polaris missiles not Tridents. It took three days to set up and fire down range (We were told somewhere in the Pacific Ocean) and the test was a success. It was quite a sight to see the missile break to the surface, the rocket engine ignite and soar away. I live near Canaveral and have watched launches for 30+ years but Von Steuben’s is the best I’ve seen. Good one, thanks.
Check bbcnews.com dw.com and euronews.com
She knew about it, was no misfire.