Written question asked by Nick Harvey (Liberal Democrat) on Thursday, 7 December 2006, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 11 December 2006. It was answered by Lord Browne of Ladyton (Labour) on Monday, 18 December 2006 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

Nuclear Submarines

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether his Department plans to carry out an upgrade and refurbishment of the Trident warhead in the next five years.

Answer: We occasionally replace components of our nuclear warheads, if and when they become obsolete, but we have no plans to upgrade or refurbish our Trident warhead stockpile in the next five years. As was made clear in the White Paper on the Future of the UK's Nuclear Deterrent (Cm 6994), published on 4 December 2006 (at paragraph 7-4), decisions on whether and how we may need to refurbish or replace the warhead stockpile are likely to be necessary in the next Parliament.

Secondary information