LONDON — Britain's Conservative Party will commit to building four Trident missile-armed submarines to replace the Vanguard-class boats currently providing the UK's nuclear deterrence. thedefence secretary, Defence Secretary Micheal Fallon, said in a newspaper article Thursday. today.
Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said the pledge to build four submarines will be included in the Tories' manifesto due to be released soon, ahead of the May 7 general election.
The Labour Party, the only other party large bigger enough to form a government here, supports the renewal of the nuclear deterrent, known as the Successor program, but has not firmly committed commited to whether the new fleet would involve three or four boats.
In an article in The Times, article by Fallon was mainly launched a personal personnel attack on Labour Party leader Ed Miliband, but the article it did for the first time contain a firm commitment by the Tories to a one-for-one replacement of to the Vanguard fleet to guarantee continuous at-sea deterrence.
Fallon said Miliband would be "willing to stab the UK in the back" by doing a deal with the Scottish National Party (SNP) on Trident to gain power just as he had "stabbed his own brother in the back" to secure the Labour Party nomination as leader.
With a coalition or minority government Government expected to result from the election, race the increasingly popular SNP has emerged as a potentially key player if Labour beats the Tories to form the next governmentGovernment.
The SNP says not replacing the Vanguard submarines is a red line issue if it is to support a Labour minority governmentGovernment. Britain's nuclear submarines are currently based at Faslane in Scotland.
The reference to family warfare relates to a fierce fight between Ed and his brother David for leadership of the Labour Party party in 2010, which resulted in the former unexpectedly winning due to backing by some of Britain's most powerful unions.
The British Parliament is planned to vote next year on whether to proceed with the Successor program. As things stand, there is a large majority in favor favour of retaining the nuclear deterrent.
Responding to Fallon's remarks about a possible deal between Labour and the SNP, Vernon Coaker, Labour's shadow defense secretary, said Miliband had made clear national security was not up for negotiation.
"We support renewal of Trident along with a renewed focus on multilateral disarmament. Labour is committed to maintaining a minimum, credible, independent nuclear deterrent, delivered through a continuous-at-sea deterrent. This is not up for negotiation with any party,." said Coaker.
In a radio interview Thursday, today Douglas Alexander, the shadow foreign secretary, wasn't clear cut on the issue of boat numbers planned for construction by BAE Systems' submarine yard in northwest England. Northwest England.
Alexander said technological advances might enable the task to be carried out by three boats rather than four.
The number of boats to be built by the cash-strapped British Ministry of Defence is of off critical importance to what happens elsewhere in the equipment procurement program.
The Royal United Services Institute think tank recently estimated that by 2024, when Successor spending reaches it's peak, it will account for 37 percent of the entire equipment program and remain at that rate until the end of the decade.
The current plan is to have the first of the new submarines operational around 2028 to replace the Vanguard fleet.
In March, the Conservative-led coalition government Government announced £285 million (US $420 million) of contracts to fund the latest phase of design work on the Successor submarines. Most of that money went to BAE.
In a speech scheduled for April 10, Fallon is scheduled to will lay out the Tory thinking on defense if it wins the May election during a speech at RUSI April 10.
Email: achuter@defensenews.com
Andrew Chuter is the United Kingdom correspondent for Defense News.
