§ Lord Juddasked Her Majesty's Government:
What was the number of nuclear warheads deployed on each of the Polaris submarines as they completed operational service, following their modernisation with the Chevaline system, and what are the implications of this for the number of warheads to be deployed on each of the Trident submarines taking into account commitments which were given not to deploy more warheads on Trident than on Polaris.
§ The Minister of State, Ministry of Defence (Lord Gilbert)Information on the number of Chevaline warheads deployed on Polaris submarines has not previously been made public. This Government is, however, committed to being as open as possible in all areas of Government business and we are currently examining, as part of the strategic defence review, whether we can now release information relating to the Chevaline system.
Future warhead requirements for the Trident force remain under consideration in the strategic defence review. The review will take into account the withdrawal from service of the WE177 free-fall nuclear bombs which supplemented Polaris throughout its operational life and the different technical characteristics of the Polaris and Trident systems, including the larger yield of the Chevaline warhead.