Former army chief questions UK need to replace Trident
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
London, Feb 24, IRNA -- Former head of the British army has questioned the UK government’s controversial plans to replace the country’s Trident nuclear missile system.
In the latest challenge to the £20 billion plans, former chief of general staff General Sir Richard Dannatt suggested that the US-led drive for global disarmament could mean the UK does not need a nuclear deterrent in five years.
“We have to evaluate every major issue like that in the circumstances of the time,” Dannatt said in an interview with the BBC.
“We can’t predict where we will be in five, 10 or 15 years’ time – whether the world will become more proliferated or we will have a greater move towards non-proliferation,” he said.
Dannatt’s doubts were seen by the British press as particular significant as he is a defence advisor to Conservative leader David Cameron, who is expected to become prime minister after the country’s general elections, which are due within three months.
Reports last month suggested that the Conservatives were considering a five-year delay in the programme, which is due to start building a fleet of submarines to launch Trident in 2014, to save costs at a time when there is pressure on the UK’s defence budget.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s government has already been delaying the Initial Gate decision on the design of the Trident replacement programme, which was due to have been made by the end of last year.
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End News / IRNA / News Code 978614
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