Report: Britain hid failed test of nuclear missile

British Prime Minister Theresa May speaks at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Photo: Michel Euler/AP

British Prime Minister Theresa May speaks at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Photo: Michel Euler/AP

Published Jan 22, 2017

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London - The British government covered up a failed test of a

nuclear-capable missile last year, weeks before a vote in Parliament

on the extension of the country's Trident submarine-based system, The

Times reported on Sunday.

The missile suffered a "serious malfunction" during a test off the

coast of Florida in late June, but the government decided to cover up

the failure to prevent possible damage to the public credibility of

Trident, the newspaper quoted an unnamed senior naval source as

saying.

"There was a major panic at the highest level of government and the

military after the first test of our nuclear deterrent in four years

ended in disastrous failure," the source was quoted as saying.

"If the information was made public, they knew how damaging it would

be to the credibility of our nuclear deterrent."

The source said an upcoming parliamentary vote on Trident on July 18

had made the failure "all the more sensitive."

Prime Minister Theresa May, who succeeded David Cameron on July 13,

told Parliament that Britain needed to spend some 40 billion pounds

(49 billion dollars) on a new Trident system to deter "serious

threats," warning of "a continuing risk of further proliferation of

nuclear weapons."

May did not mention the failed missile test during the debate in

parliament.

dpa

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