§ Lord Wedderburn of Charltonasked Her Majesty's Government:
What is the position on the Trident submarine programme, in particular the next UK order for Trident missile bodies.
§ Lord GilbertConstruction of the fourth and final Trident submarine is proceeding well at the yard of GEC Marine at Barrow in Furness. I was privileged to be present last week at two Trident missile test firings successfully carried out by HMS "Vigilant", the third vessel of the class, which will be entering service on time in the fairly near future.
Consistent with our policy of maintaining a four-boat Trident fleet, we have concluded that the planned US Fiscal Year 1998 order for seven further Trident missile bodies should go ahead. This will bring the number of Trident missiles purchased or ordered by the UK to 58.
It remains our policy to work towards verifiable global disarmament. For the present, however, we are committed to the maintenance of a minimum level of deterrence, and this missile order is consistent with that aim. Our future missile and warhead requirements remain under consideration in the Strategic Defence Review.