§ Lord Cochrane of Cultsasked Her Majesty's Government:
What proposals they have for the United Kingdom's sub-strategic nuclear capability.
§ Lord HenleyIn 1993, we announced that in the longer term we would use the flexibility of the Trident system to undertake the sub strategic as well as the strategic nuclear role. I am pleased to say that the arrangements for this are progressing well. The Trident system will provide a continuously available sub-strategic capability when the second submarine—HMS "Victorious"—joins the patrol cycle around the end of this year, and the capability will be fully robust when HMS "Vigilant" enters service in 1998. In the light of this we have decided that the WE177 free-fall bomb should be withdrawn from service by the end of 1998.