Putin is 'not stupid' – Britain's nuclear weapons will STILL keep him in check despite Trident 2 blunders, former navy chief insists

World

VLADIMIR Putin is “not stupid” and will know Britain's nuclear deterrent is still working despite two failed Trident 2 missile launches, an ex-navy chief has told The Sun.

Former First Sea Lord Admiral Lord West said the failed Trident launches were “shameful” but insisted the doomsday missiles would work in the event of a disaster. Third World War.

Lord West said the Russian leader would know the British missiles would work despite the failed launchesCredit: Reuters

On Tuesday, a Trident rocket failed and crashed into the seaCredit: AP

Lord West initially admitted that he was "very concerned" but is now confident that the system works — Lord West admitted he was initially “very concerned” but is now confident the system is workingCredit: PA

He said: “Putin may be bloodthirsty and mean, but he is not stupid and he knows something about submarines, he knows we have no problem.

“It's just embarrassing. Of course it's embarrassing.”

The Sun revealed it was a Trident 2 D5 missile suffered a dramatic failure and crashed into the ocean meters away from HMS Vanguard, the Royal Navy submarine that fired it.

It was the second launch failure since 2016, when HMS Vengeance fired a missile that veered off course and self-destructed.

It raised fears that the failed tests could embolden the population Russia if Moscow believed that the deterrent – the cornerstone of Britain's defense – was not working.

The last time the Trident missile was successfully fired from a Royal Navy submarine was more than 11 years ago.

Admiral Lord West told The Sun he was “initially very worried” after the January 30 failure.

He added: “A lot of people were.

“But we have carried out the checks and there is no doubt that the system works.

“We now know what the cause of the problem is. It had to do with the test firing and not the correct firing.

Britain to test nuclear-armed missiles in major show of force with submarine launching 44ft Trident 2 for first time since 2016

“They will work hard to resolve it.”

He said Trident 2 missiles were so reliable Russia hadn't even bothered to send a spy ship to watch the January 30 launch.

He said: 'The Russians always deploy an intelligence gathering ship to monitor these shellings, but because the Trident works so well they didn't even bother to do that.

'They know it works.

“We know that active missiles will work with nuclear warheads and let's hope we never have to use them.

“They'll travel the full 7,000 miles and land their warheads on the targets with devastating accuracy, so we're not worried about that.”

Lord West said the crew of HMS Vanguard were also “gloomy” after the test went wrong.

But he insisted morale was now “very high” because they had figured out what went wrong.

He said the boat and crew had passed all tests with flying colors during the exercises that sealed HMS Vanguard's return to active service after a seven-year, £500 million refit.

He said: “The Americans were amazed at how good the Vanguard crew was. They said it was one of the best crews to pass the test range.”

The Ministry of Defense confirmed that “an anomaly has occurred” but stressed that the nuclear deterrent remains “effective”.

A spokesperson told The Sun: “HMS Vanguard and her crew have proven fully capable of operating the British Continuous At-Sea Deterrent, having passed all tests during a recent demonstration and shakedown operation (DASO ) – a routine test to confirm that the submarine can. put back into use after extensive maintenance work.

“The test has reaffirmed the effectiveness of the UK's nuclear deterrent, in which we have absolute confidence.

“An anomaly occurred during the test. From a national security perspective we cannot provide further information on this, but we are confident that the anomaly was event specific and therefore there are no implications for the reliability of the wider Trident missile. systems and supplies. Britain's nuclear deterrent remains safe, secure and effective.”

Missile manufacturer Lockheed Martin says its Trident 2 missiles have successfully fired a “record” 191 times since 1989.

Minister of Defence Grant Shapps and First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Ben Key were both aboard the submarine, HMS Vanguard, for exercises on 30 January.

The 60-ton Trident 2 rocket blasted out of the submarine's launch tubes in a cloud of compressed particles gas as planned.

But the first stage rocket boosters failed to ignite and splashed back into the Atlantic Ocean.

A source said: “He left the submarine but he just popped next one to them.”