?20 billion to update Uk Trident fleet

[Izzy]

What has people views been of this?

For those out of the loop the government over here is allocating ?20 billion ($40 billion) updating and replacing our fleet of Trident submarines which are nearing their sell by date

Its been quite controversial over here, not least because of the money involved but because with the Cold War over possessing a small fleet of submarines armed with hundreds of long range missles doesnt seem to reflect the nature of current threats

..after all, who are these missles intended for? Its not likely France is going to try and invade us - and face it, we wouldn't use them even if they did

I'm not sure what to think about this issue - its rather daft we are spending so much updating yesterdays weapons. There have been all kinds of figures shown about how this money could be better spent.

The only likely nuclear threat is from some wacked out terroist cell - and who would we retaliate against? I dont belive North Korea or Iran would ever directly attack (they'd get a third party to do that)

yet at the same time being a nuclear power is crucial to the Uk's world standing, after all no one listens to what Australia or Canada says...

Disarming would also be a bold move that might lead to other countries giving up their arsenals - might discourage Iran...

As a species we do need to wake up to the fact that using these things would destroy the world as we know it - so why would we ever use them, how would the alternative be worse?

What do people think?

[The Dog]

you got a link to a news article about this?

[T_Roxie]

Well they are going to have less warheads, so it's a step towards disarmament.  I think they should be kept for the near future - you never know who we might be facing in 40 years time and these weapons may prevent any conflict.

That being said, i hope to God theyre never used.

[TAP]

..after all, who are these missles intended for? Its not likely France is going to try and invade us - and face it, we wouldn't use them even if they did

Not even a couple 

[Izzy]

..after all, who are these missles intended for? Its not likely France is going to try and invade us - and face it, we wouldn't use them even if they did

Not even a couple?

i suppose we could part with one or two and still be feared....

[Layne Staley's Sunglasses]

Maybe they're just trying to maintain British Naval tradition of being "up-to-date", so to say.

[Hysteron]

Imagine this scenario a nuclear war breaks out, Britain is a small country, one of them goes of here and everyone in England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, and the Republican of Ireland goes boom.

I don?t see how having more nuclear weapons is going to mean that less gets used, who are we trying to intimate here in to not attacking us, Trinidad and Tobago? It?s certainly not any of the other nuclear powers.

[mrlee]

i think nuclear weapons are the worst thing to be invented ever.

One its cowardly and think of all the people it would kill who have done fuck all. Thing of the long term effects, million, if not billions of years for the radioactive materials to degrade.

Cant it even knock the earth off its axis if powerful enough?

i hate it and the fact that some random jihad could press a button right now and blow me up doesnt make me feel safe at all.

[Izzy]

i think nuclear weapons are the worst thing to be invented ever.

I've always though of nuclear weapons as one of humanity's greatest achievement - over night we ended the large scale conflicts that had dominated human history

We seem pathologically unable to behave ourselves but finally we had too. It goes without saying we'd have gone to war with Russia without them. The daft little struggles to steal oil we see these days are rather petty when you consder the way we used to fight wars....

[The Dog]

i think nuclear weapons are the worst thing to be invented ever.

I've always though of nuclear weapons as one of humanity's greatest achievement - over night we ended the large scale conflicts that had dominated human history

We seem pathologically unable to behave ourselves but finally we had too. It goes without saying we'd have gone to war with Russia without them. The daft little struggles to steal oil we see these days are rather petty when you consder the way we used to fight wars....

I agree, the problem is that they are becoming easier to get a hold off.

I'm sure all the US marines in the pacific back in the 40s are very happy the nuke was invented.

[Izzy]

i think nuclear weapons are the worst thing to be invented ever.

I've always though of nuclear weapons as one of humanity's greatest achievement - over night we ended the large scale conflicts that had dominated human history

We seem pathologically unable to behave ourselves but finally we had too. It goes without saying we'd have gone to war with Russia without them. The daft little struggles to steal oil we see these days are rather petty when you consder the way we used to fight wars....

I agree, the problem is that they are becoming easier to get a hold off.

Indeed, but the problem is far more to do with the behaviour of certain group than the nature of the weapon - if nukes werent around they'd use something else...like planes

[axl_rose_700]

I personally believe Britain is right to keep it's independant nuclear detterant.

Lets face it, we don't want to have to rely on America for everything, and the very people who are calling for us to disarm are the same people who spend their entire lives bitching and moaning about the US and they'd have us go running to them for help should a problem ever arise.