Does Britain still possess a credible nuclear deterrent?

Misfiring missiles, a creaking Trident system that could cost £41bn to upgrade, and all this against a highly volatile global backdrop. Sean O’Grady tries to find reassurance among the troubling facts

The present system is operated by four Vanguard-class submarines and costs around £3bn a year to maintain (Reuters)

The news that one of the UK’s proud arsenal of nuclear-capable missiles fell harmlessly into the Atlantic during testing comes as a further embarrassment to the Ministry of Defence.

In recent weeks, the British public, increasingly alarmed at the behaviour of Vladimir Putin, has learnt that the army stands at its lowest strength since the Napoleonic wars, that both of our otherwise magnificent aircraft carriers have trouble getting seaborne, that one of our warships crashed into another because of “faulty wiring”, and that Donald Trump has threatened to withdraw the US commitment to Nato.

Even the special forces, the finest of their kind in the world, are now being accused of war crimes in Afghanistan. It’s not inspiring confidence...