Originally Posted by 4Foxtrot
Are the days gone when merely being a nuclear power gave you a seat at the table?
IMO, those 4 V boats give us a lot of clout on the world stage and have definitely allowed us to keep our permanent seat on the Security Council. (Same to be said for France's Triomphant Class SSBN). IMHO - worth every penny!
Originally Posted by Tourist
.... though an Astute launched nuc has its advantages.
Agreed, but (with the current 1st batch design) I assume this could only be a sub-strategic cruise missile nuc.
I would suggest we still need to keep ICBM nucs.
Unfortunately, having cruise missile nucs and ICBMs would be proliferation, wouldn't it?
I'm all in favour of another set of SSBN. Pity we can't do without the Yanks for the missiles. Could we not partner with EADS?