The
government "covered up" a malfunctioned unarmed test of
Britain's Trident missile system, The Sunday Times reported.
The Trident
II D5 ballistic missiles are carried by Britain's four Vanguard-class
submarines, and they are able to deliver thermonuclear warheads from
multiple independently-targetable re-entry vehicles (MIRVs).
In a front
page article, the newspaper says that the failed test took place
shortly before Theresa May became prime minister, "but
she omitted any mention of the failed test when she persuaded
parliament to spend 40 billion pounds on new Trident submarines in
her first big Commons speech on July 18."
During
the test, the unarmed missile "may have veered off in
the wrong direction towards America" after being
launched from a British submarine off the coast of Florida in
June last year, according to the article.
However, Sky
News quoted its Defence Correspondent Alistair Bunkall as saying that
he had been told that the earlier report about the missile veering
towards the United States is not true.
The
revelation of the missile test failure has put pressure on May's
government. But the prime minister did not directly respond to the
issue when she was questioned by BBC.
She told BBC
that she had "absolute faith" in Britain's nuclear weapons
system despite reports about the failed missile test.
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