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UK secretly upgrading nuclear weapons - the Guardian

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

London, March 13, IRNA
UK Trident-Secret Upgrade
Britain's Trident nuclear missiles are already being secretly upgraded to increase their accuracy and ability to attack a wider range of targets, a leading daily reported Wednesday.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has admitted that a new firing device developed by the US is to be installed in Britain's nuclear weapons system by scientists at the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment at Aldermaston, southern England, the Guardian said.

"The device - called the Arming, Fusing and Firing (AF&F) system - would make the Trident system more effective because the weapons' power, impact and radioactive fallout could be changed depending on the target," the paper said.

The admission comes ahead of MPs voting Wednesday to approve the government's controversial plan to replace Trident, but Defence Secretary Des Browne denied as "not true" that the number of targets was being increased without parliament's agreement.

"It is not an upgrading of the system. It is merely to make sure the system works to its maximum efficiency," Browne told BBC Radio Four's Today programme.

Hans Kristensen, the director of the Federation of American Scientists' Nuclear Information Project, was quoted saying that the new device was "part of an effort to increase the war fighting effectiveness" of the Trident D5 missiles.

"It will broaden the range of targets that can be held at risk with the weapon," Kristensen told the Guardian, explaining the new firing mechanism would make the weapon more accurate and nuclear bombs could be exploded with relatively little radioactive fallout.

Paul Ingram, senior analyst at the British American Security Information Council, also said that it was indicative that Britain is "looking to further upgrade its warheads for a variety of uses beyond simple deterrence."

The British government has maintained that its plan to replace Trident meet the country's obligation to end the nuclear arms race and disarm under the terms of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

In the interview, Browne admitted that it had become "more difficult to explain exactly" why Britain needed a nuclear deterrent.

But he argued that it was a "changing and very dangerous world and we cannot guarantee what will be the situation in the future." Unless a decision was made, "we risk the security of future generations," he said.

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