Does the U.K. need American permission to fire there own nukes?

Question

Or is this anti-uk propaganda.

Answer 1

This is from the BBC News site.

The government says that firing Trident does not require permission of any other country and that therefore it is independent. However critics say that Britain is technically so dependent on the United States that in effect Trident is not an independent system. For example, the British Trident missiles are serviced at a US port in Georgia. The critics also argue that the British warhead design is based on an American one and that warhead components are also from the United States. Depending on the arrangements, the same kind of arguments would probably go on about a replacement system

Answer 2

It's anti-UK propaganda. You can do what you want, it's just that UK and US interests are so closely aligned that there is probably no reason that the UK wouldn't inform the US, or have joint-planning in place.

The only other reason you'd want ot get "permission" would be so that the US didn't fire at the UK in response...you'd probably need Russia to sign off too.

Answer 3

Its just clap trap propaganda.

Britain has an INDEPENDANT nuclear deterrent and it it at the sole discretion of the British government whether or not to use it.

These days it is confined to submarine based Trident missiles all of which are on British Submarines and any tasking and targeting is defined at Northwood.

Clearly in the modern world Britian would probably consult with a number of other countries and organisations including the EU, NATO, and the USA before obliterating another country but the decision is all ours.

Answer 4

I don't think we're going to call first if we had to actually fire a nuclear missile first.

It'd spoil the surprise.

Lord forbid mind, that any country should ever feel the need to.

Its like when you see drunks get into a fist fight. It starts as just a scuffle, but then one of them has to go too far, and hit the other with a surface to air warhead.

The first world war started over a double assisination. Millions of lives sacrificed for just two.

Answer 5

No. Don't be silly. Did we need the USA's permission to reclaim the Falklands? No.

The US is our closest ally. Friends tell friends what each other is doing, however much that may at times seem to be a one-way street. As Sir Humphrey rightly pointed out the only reason we have a nuclear deterrent is the French.

Answer 6

The agreement under which we've bought Trident has all sorts of conditions. These could be interpreted as saying we can only fire the missiles at targets approved by the US. If we ever got to the stage of wanting to use the things, we'd probably shoot first and tell the Yanks afterwards.

We can do what we like with the bombs we send by plane or land based missiles.

Answer 7

It's a null point, it's not like we are going to use them...

I would guess the US would fire nukes well before the UK would, and therefore again is a null point.

I don't think the UK needs any for this reason, and we should ditch the cost of maintaining them. The US can keep spending its money instead.

Answer 8

Noone can fire Nukes. Not even tactical, the whole world would kick off.
The UKs Nuclear defense is pretty poor anyway. Most countries have very few left anyway

Answer 9

no, it would never happen anyway for 3 reasons.

1./ no nation on the planet dare start a nuclear war due to the inevitable total extinction of every living being on the planet either from the detonation and thermal shock wave of such devices or from the resulting nuclear winter.

2./ the only purpose a nuclear weapon serves is a deterrent to nuclear war thus making them totally obsolete in any war, battle or skirmish.

3./ brain dead squaddies are much cheaper to produce and far easier to program as they are not trained to think only obey and know nothing of how the country they serve is run.

Answer 10

Of course not, were a sovereign power (and were before the US)

Should we ever be at war with the USA, we will be unlikely to call and ask if we can fire first.

Britain doesn't need the US's permission to do anything.