UK returns to nuclear missile testing in 2016
The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom will conduct a test launch of nuclear weapons within a few days
The UK will test-fire a nuclear missile for the first time since 2016. This was reported by The Sun.
As noted, the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom will conduct a test launch of nuclear weapons in a few days. Officials issued a warning to shipping as the nuclear-powered submarine HMS Vanguard entered the Atlantic this week.
According to the publication, the submarine is to test-fire an unarmed missile after completing a seven-year repair in Plymouth. The test is the last hurdle for HMS Vanguard to become part of the British nuclear deterrent fleet again.
The HMS Vanguard submarine can carry up to 16 Trident 2 D5 missiles, each armed with several British-made warheads that are more than 20 times more powerful than the weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan during World War II.
It is expected that the submarine will be able to launch one unarmed missile from a distance of 90 km from the US east coast.
The U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency issued a warning to shipping, indicating the missile’s estimated course to impact in the mid-Atlantic. The rocket has to travel about 6,000 kilometers before it falls into the sea between Brazil and West Africa.
Earlier, the DPRK announced the test of a hypersonic solid-propellant missile
