Royal Navy’s failed nuclear missile test goes unreported

A Royal Navy test of the Trident nuclear missile resulted in failure in June last year but was never reported.

The Trident firing was part of testing that the recently modernized Vanguard-class submarine HMS Vengeance carried out off the coast of Florida.

The Ministry of Defence said the submarine and the crew were successfully tested.

A Sunday Times report, however, revealed that the unarmed Trident missile veered off course during the test.

Sky News’ Alistair Bunkall later reported that the missile did not veer towards the U.S, and was actually aborted.

I’m told the Trident missile didn’t veer towards the US. There was apparently an incorrect telemetry data reading and it was aborted

— Alistair Bunkall (@AliBunkallSKY) January 22, 2017

The test took place weeks before Members of Parliament were scheduled to take a vote on whether the UK should spend £40bn on renewing the program. Parliament decided to renew the program on July 18 with a decision that was backed by 472 votes to 117.

Today, UK Defence Secretary Michael Fallon is set to answer MP’s questions on the cover-up of the failed nuclear missile test. According to media reports, UK Prime Minister repeatedly refused to answer questions on whether she knew about the failed test ahead of the July 18 vote.