Nuclear Weapons (Hansard, 1 February 2002)

§ Mr. Wray
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if the UK owns nuclear weapons other than the SLBMs. [31707]

§ Mr. Hoon
No. As the 1998 Strategic Defence Review (Cm 3999) made clear, Trident is our only nuclear weapons system.

§ Mr. Wray
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what US nuclear weapons are in the United Kingdom. [31708]

§ Mr. Hoon
Some US nuclear weapons remain based in the UK in accordance with long-standing NATO policy. Nuclear forces based in Europe and committed to NATO provide an essential political and military link between the European and North American members of the Alliance. I am withholding any further details under Exemption 1 (Defence, Security and International Relations) of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.

§ Mr. Wray
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of a replacement to the Trident deterrent when it goes out of service. [31709]

§ Mr. Hoon
We have no current plans for a replacement for Trident, and no decision on any possible successor system is yet needed.

§ Mr. Wray
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many SLBMs the UK owns; and how many warheads are contained in each missile. [31705]

§ Mr. Hoon
The 1998 Strategic Defence Review concluded that the 58 Trident missile bodies already purchased from the USA would be sufficient to maintain a credible nuclear deterrent posture. While I am withholding information on the number of warheads deployed on each missile under Exemption 1 (Defence, Security and International Relations) of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information, I can confirm that, when on deterrence patrol, Trident submarines carry 48 nuclear warheads.
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