EXCLUSIVE: Britain should not ‘talk down our strength’ amid the growing crisis over Greenland, a top defence expert has said amid claims over the £23billion Trident nuclear deterrent
A top defence expert has spoken out on claims that Donald Trump is in ‘control’ of Britain’s nuclear weapons amid the escalating crisis over Greenland.
Donald Trump this morning penned an alarming letter saying he ‘no longer feels an obligation to think purely of peace’ just hours after the announced tariffs are to be imposed on the UK and other NATO countries over their recent decision to station a small number of troops in the Danish territory.
The diplomatic spat with the US has reignited long-standing claims that the White House is effectively ‘in control’ of the UK’s £23billion Trident nuclear deterrent programme, which uses American technology and parts.
But Professor Anthony Glees, professor of politics at the University of Buckingham, told the Mirror that this is an incomplete picture of the UK’s defence capabilities – and warned that we should not be playing down our “strength” at a time of unprecedented transatlantic tensions.
He explained: “We are heavily dependent on the United States of America. Nevertheless, we do have Trident missiles right now at this moment in time, and yes they need to be serviced by the United States of America.
“We have a maintenance contract with Lockheed Martin, American company, that just in 2024 was extended indefinitely. Everything surrounding the missiles, that’s American.
“But we control them and we can fire them if we ever needed to – there is no US veto on his doing so. So at this moment in time we are very strong and we shouldn’t talk ourselves into thinking we are very weak – we’re not.
“We need to stop talking down our strength and whining that we cannot live without holding Nanny’s hand. Because we can.”
The defence expert of 50 years slammed Trump’s moves to undermine NATO alliance and warned that it would damage American capabilities in Europe, saying: “The reason we got so deeply in hock with America was not only because of course we could rely on America and it helped America – Trump doesn’t understand it – but it was not a one way street by any means.
“If we withdraw our support from America, America is the less. It’s not just us that suffer, the Americans suffer.”
He also identified opportunities to develop a separate deterrent in conjunction with France as the ageing Vanguard-class submarines carrying the Trident approach the end of service in the next few years – noting that Paris is also looking to replace their nuclear submarines in the next few years.
The extraordinary diplomatic clash between Westminster and Washington has also sparked fears that Britain’s F-35 fighter jets, which use American-made technology, could be rendered useless if the US ever triggered a ‘kill switch’ – but Professor Glees explained to the Mirror that the RAF has plenty of other planes it could use if it ever came to this.
Reacting to Trump’s letter to the Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, he described it as “prima facie evidence of senile dementia”, pointing out that the Nobel committee is completely independent of government.