Cool footage has emerged on social media of one of Britain’s nuclear submarines returning to port.
The Vanguard-class submarine was seen trundling along the River Clyde in Scotland following a significant stretch at sea, per footage that circulated on the social media app X.
The sub could be seen covered in muck, likely due to the length of time spent at sea. Nuclear subs are well equipped to last for longer missions while covertly exploring the seas. A previous patrol last year was also reported to have lasted a whopping 190 days.
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(Image: Royal Navy)
The UK’s nuclear subs have been under continued scrutiny due to their role as one of Britain’s main forms of defence in the event of a nuclear strike. But this has ramped up since a missile misfired on January 30.
The missile landed just metres away from the submarine with then-Defence Secretary Grant Shapps and First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Ben Kay onboard.
Downing Street was previously accused of covering up a reported malfunction in a Trident missile launched from HMS Vengeance off the coast of Florida in June 2016. The missile is said to have veered off course towards the US before automatically self-destructing.
The Vanguard class is currently set to be replaced by the Dreadnought class, due to be delivered by the early 2030s.
Campaigners and politicians have raised concerns over the cost of Trident during a cost-of-living crisis, with the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) claiming the cost of maintaining and replacing the Trident system over its lifespan could reach £205 billion. A parliamentary report published in early August said the estimated cost of Dreadnought is £31 billion including inflation.
Naysayers of the UK’s nuclear weapons programme say it is too expensive and that the focus should shift to unilateral disarmament, where a country gives up its weapons with expecting other nations to do the same thing. Others also support disarmament on ethical ground, arguing that it is wrong to keep nuclear weapons reader for use.
Each Vanguard sub can carry 192 warheads individually possessing the destructive power of eight Hiroshimas, But the subs, which the Royoal Navy say can travel at more than 25 knots at depths in excess of 250 metres, are limited to deploying with eight operational missiles and no more than 40 nuclear warheads.
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