Britain’s Trident nuclear missiles might soon be unable to flatten Moscow as Vladimir Putin ramps up Russia‘s high–tech air defences, a chilling new report warns.
Russia’s new ‘missile shields’ around Moscow have become so advanced that British and French nuclear warheads might no longer be able to get through, according to a report released on Thursday by the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) military think tank in London.
The report said Europe would have to acquire or build hypersonic missiles to ensure Moscow’s air defences can be defeated.
These missiles travel at five times the speed of sound and zigzag through the air, making them almost impossible to stop.
Russia’s new S–500 and Nudol systems act like a high–speed ‘catcher’s mitt’ in the sky, designed to shoot down the type of missiles carried by British submarines.
Sidharth Kaushal, a research fellow for missile defence at Rusi, said enhancing Europe’s long–range precision–strike capabilities was becoming critical to safeguarding the credibility of Britain and France‘s nuclear deterrents.
He said: ‘It is not certain that they [Russia] will intercept every submarine–launched ballistic missile, but potentially it is also not a certainty that the required number will get through.’
The report warns that as Russia’s defences around Moscow get better, we can no longer simply assume that Britain’s or France’s submarine–fired missiles will actually reach their targets.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Defence Secretary John Healey visits a Vanguard class submarine off the coast of Scotland as it returns home from a period of duty at sea
Russia’s ‘A–235’ system is specifically designed to bat away a nuclear attack on Moscow, while its advanced ‘S–500’ shield acts like a high–altitude safety net, built to catch and destroy incoming long–range missiles.
In the report, Dr. Sidharth Kaushal warns that Russia is building a high–tech ‘layered defence’ around Moscow.
By combining the A–235 and S–500 systems, Putin could create a nearly impenetrable bubble that stops Western missiles before they ever hit the ground.
Britain’s entire nuclear strike capability currently relies on just four Vanguard-class submarines.
Each sub carries up to 16 Trident missiles, with each missile capable of splitting into 12 separate warheads to hit different targets.
New Russian technology, like the S–500 may be able to shoot down a Trident missile early in its flight.
If the missile is destroyed before it releases its 12 warheads, Russia only has to hit one target instead of 12, making our deterrent much easier to stop.
Launch vehicle of the S-500 air defence system The S-500 Prometheus. Russia claims that the S-500 is capable of intercepting all types of modern hypersonic weapons
And unlike the United States, which has a massive arsenal, Britain and France do not have enough missiles to ‘flood’ or overwhelm Russia’s high–tech air shields.
Analysts point to 2024, when the US and Israel successfully blocked 90 per cent of a 200-missile barrage from Iran. If Russia achieves that same success rate, Britain’s relatively small nuclear fleet may no longer be enough to act as a credible deterrent.
The report also finds that as missile production becomes cheaper, the UK could build them in much larger numbers, allowing the military to overwhelm enemy defences by striking more targets at once.
In a major shift toward European cooperation, the UK is now working with Germany to develop a ‘Deep Precision Strike’ missile capable of hitting targets over 2,000km away, triple the range of our current frontline weapons.
In a sobering address at Chatham House on Wednesday, the UK Minister for the Armed Forces, Al Carns, warned that Britain and its European allies must prepare for the very real threat of a major conflict by 2029–30.
Carns noted that for 60 years, Europe has ‘outsourced’ much of its security and high–end military capability to the United States.
He warned that with the U.S. facing a ‘multipolar’ threat environment (referring to China and the Indo-Pacific), Europe can no longer assume the US will always be the primary guarantor of its safety.
British firms have been locked out of a €150 billion European defence fund after the UK’s bid to join the ‘Safe’ security program collapsed last year.
While Germany reportedly backed UK involvement, France was accused of blocking the move to keep the funding within the EU.
Carns hit back at the decision, calling it ‘self-defeating’ and insisting that the UK remains the ‘cornerstone of European security.’
This month, the UK announced a £400 million investment in long-range precision weapons to bypass the EU funding gap.
A major portion of this funding is dedicated to developing hypersonic missiles, designed to outrun the Russian air defences currently threatening Britain’s nuclear deterrent.
A Ministry of Defence spokesman stated the UK is ‘constantly reviewing’ its nuclear posture to ensure our missiles can always adapt to and defeat the defensive measures used by adversaries.