The British Ministry of Defence (MOD) may soon be unable to run its nuclear deterrent, Trident, due to massive budget cuts and a lack of sufficient personnel skilled in engineering, according to a report by the country's parliament. This is however, only the latest in a litany of issues to torment the UK's military establishment.
Past decisions by the British government to delay maintenance of its Trident nuclear submarines have rendered the program “not fit for purpose,” according to a new report by the Public Accounts Committee.
The report's authors also make the argument that Trident could be negatively impacted upon by Brexit, due to the system's reliance on imported materials from other EU countries, as well as possible difficulties in bringing in much-needed skilled engineers from the continent to work across the 13 sites that house the nuclear submarines.
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In order to maintain the UK's current deterrence capacity, the MOD must reportedly come up with funding of at least £2.5 billion to spend on improving the system.
Meg Hillier, the chair of the committee who penned the report is quoted as saying that, “the MOD must now bridge an affordability gap running nearly £3 billion, fill critical skills gaps and ensure its supply chain is maintained effectively — all at a time of significant uncertainty…
