Blair Unveils New Nuclear Defense Plan
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LONDON — Prime Minister Blair launched plans yesterday for a new multibillion-dollar submarine-based nuclear missile defense system, warning lawmakers the future may hold perilous threats from rogue regimes and state-sponsored terrorists.
In what is expected to be among his last major acts as premier, Mr. Blair told the House of Commons that despite the end of the Cold War, potential threats were posed by North Korea, Iran, and others.
“In these circumstances, it would be unwise and dangerous for Britain alone of any of the nuclear powers to give up its independent nuclear deterrent,”he said.
Mr. Blair said Britain would cut back on its stock of nuclear warheads from 200 to 160 — a move intended to make the proposal more acceptable to detractors within his own party. But he said any decision to reduce the nuclear-armed submarine fleet from four to three would be made only after a new vessel is designed. Mr. Blair said advisers had ruled out land or air based alternatives as too costly and too vulnerable.
The existing submarine fleet will be phased out from 2022, defense officials said. Mr. Blair also said a decision on whether Britain will build a new arsenal of warheads to replace current stocks — expected to last only until the 2020s — would not be made before 2009.
That means Mr. Blair — due to stand down in 2007 — avoided the most contentious aspect of committing to a future nuclear defense program. Debates over a new warhead program are expected to stir up fierce divisions in his Labour Party, once committed to unilateral nuclear disarmament. Britain’s conservative opposition leader, David Cameron, endorsed the new deterrent, though he urged options be kept open for fourth submarine. The replacement fleet would cost around $40 billion.
Mr. Blair said Britain would join in an American program to extend the Trident D5 missile, currently used by both countries, until the early 2040s. President Bush has assured Mr. Blair that Britain would also be included in designing a successor missile, defense officials said.
Mr. Blair told legislators they would be asked to decide on the number of new submarines and a new missile design in the next Parliament, following national elections expected in 2009.
