What we know about UK's nuclear war deterrence after Russian propagandist made 'kill all British people' warning
The UK versus Russia drama continues, and this time, it’s all about what our defence options are in light of a very serious comment being issued to us.
Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the possibility of World War 3 looms over our heads, and Vladimir Putin's regime have been flexing their power for a while now.
From a simulation showing how a nuclear strike would 'sink' the entire country, to a 'leaked' list of nuclear targets in the UK, it would appear that the UK in particular is a special focus of the Russian propagandists - namely TV anchor Vladimir Solovyov.
In the past, he's claimed that 'one Sarmat [missile] means minus one Great Britain' and said that any UK troops in Ukraine will 'all die', though he also directed that warning towards the French, too.
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And recently, he issued another one towards the UK, saying we'd 'certainly perish' for 'waging war against them', as Margarita Simonyan added: "We will kill them all."
Now, while the threat is understandably scary, can it be done? Perhaps, but we do have a major weapon at our disposal in the UK.
According to the Ministry of Defence’s YouTube channel and the government’s website, we have a significant nuclear deterrent that works, and works well.
It’s all thanks to the power of patrolling submarines.
As per the website, the UK has at least one of its submarines out patrolling the seas undetected at all times of the day, every single day.
These submarines are there to help to guarantee the nation’s safety and as well as the UK’s NATO Allies’ safety by ‘deterring the most extreme threats to our national security’.
The gov site claims that while ‘nuclear conflict remains remote’, ‘the threats the UK faces are increasing in scale, diversity and complexity’ which is why we need to scare off any potential predators.
“The purpose of nuclear deterrence is to preserve peace, prevent coercion and deter aggression. Potential aggressors know that the costs of attacking the UK, or our NATO allies, could far outweigh any benefit they could hope to achieve." it continues.
"This deters states from using their nuclear weapons against us or carrying out the most extreme threats to our national security.”
To do this, in April 1969, the Royal Navy began to constantly patrol the sea with ‘at least one nuclear-armed ballistic missile submarine’ in a bid to ‘preserve peace, prevent coercion, and deter aggression’.
The continuous at sea deterrent (aka, CASD) is a cost-effective platform which can deploy the independent nuclear deterrent which can fire a missile within ‘several days’ notice’.
Though the missile is not aimed at any state, it can surely blow something out of the water, or maybe even something flying above it.
The current Prime Minister is the only person who can authorise the use of the nuclear weapons and he should only consider it as part of a self-defence strategy, which includes the defence of NATO allies.
In a recent session at the Houses of Parliament, Lord Oates asked whether the government had considered what it was giving to secure the full independence of the deterrent, to which Lord Coaker replied (via UK Defence Journal): "I can assure the noble Lord that the United Kingdom’s nuclear deterrent is completely operationally independent.
"Only the Prime Minister can authorise the firing of our nuclear weapons, even if they are to be employed as part of a NATO response."
Britt Jones