Originally Posted by
ThinkTanker
But that's not the exam question here, which is "what's the cheapest way of delivering credible minimum deterrence (so that we can spend the saved cash on the conventional forces)?"
If we look at which possible Opponents would warrant deterrence (Russia, maybe China) since they might be in a realistic position to pose a credible threat to Western Europe then I carefully suggest the only credible thing is an SSBN considering their Air Defence Systems, Size and Distances.