Trident chief says Britain’s nuclear warheads only way to stop ISIS getting a DIRTY BOMB
BRITAIN’S Trident nuclear missile system is a vital tool in stopping rogue states from selling weapons of mass destruction to Islamic State (ISIS) jihadis, the man in charge of Britain’s atomic submarine fleet has said.
Speaking to Express.co.uk, Rear Admiral John Weale made the case for continued investment in the weapons system, saying they were “final insurance [for] both the UK way of life and those of our allies”.
While he acknowledged that having four Vanguard-class submarines packed with nuclear warheads – with at least one kept on 24-hour patrol at any time – would do little to deter jihadis from plotting attacks against this country, he said it would deter those who do possess the radioactive material from passing it on.
Talking from the Faslane Naval Base, where the bombs are held and where Express.co.uk was given rare access this week, he said: “The deterrent is not here to deter ISIS.
“It is not here to deter terrorism; there are other policies and capabilities to deter terrorism.
“This is to deter those countries that may wish to sponsor nuclear terrorism. This is a deterrent for nuclear capabilities.
“It is a deterrent for an extreme threat of a nuclear attack on her allies.”
His comments came as defence secretary Michael Fallon said the UK could not “rule out the possibility that states in the future may slip nuclear weapons to non-state actors [such as ISIS, also known as Daesh].
“At the moment we have other ways of defending ourselves against terrorist attack, including missiles launched from conventional submarines, but we have to guard against all these threats, whether they are conventional or cyber or nuclear.”
ISIS is not thought to be close to developing or obtaining nuclear weapons, although it boasted last May that it was poised to buy its first nuclear bomb “within a year”.
But it admitted obtaining the deadly weapon would be a challenge and said it would settle for a “few thousand tons of ammonium nitrate explosive”.
Adm Weale’s comments could be viewed as a veiled warning about the threat posed by Iran and Russia’s nuclear programme.
Both countries lie within easy range of ISIS strongholds in Iraq and Syria and while Iran has no confirmed nuclear warheads at its disposal, it is widely-regarded as hoping to acquire one.
Terror experts have also flagged up troubled regions in Pakistan as potential markets for ISIS to purchase a dirty or nuclear bomb.
Afzal Ashraf, a former senior officer in the RAF, said the country was “the most likely place” for ISIS to obtain a nuclear explosive.
The country remains outside both the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.
Its nuclear arsenal raises the risk that the deadly weapons or the ingredients used to construct them – enriched uranium or plutonium – could fall into the hands of ISIS.
Also speaking from Faslane, commodore Dan Martyn, the commanding officer of HMS Vigilant, insisted Britain’s stockpile of nuclear weapons was secure.
While he acknowledged “there would be a value, I would imagine, to having possession of a nuclear warhead, the security exists to make sure that doesn’t happen”.
