UK plans 'mini-nuke' strike force

A decision on whether to replace the ageing Trident system has to be taken by the end of the decade but a secret MoD poll suggests there would be enormous public opposition to spending tens of billions on new missiles.

Ministers and MoD chiefs are understood to be in advanced negotiations with the United States over developing a new range of much smaller and cheaper nuclear weapons that could be used to launch first-strike attacks on enemies.

More than 200 British scientists have visited American nuclear laboratories in the past year. The government has also taken on dozens of physicists to work at its top-secret Aldermaston nuclear plant in Berkshire, which is in line for a 2bn redevelopment. They will be equipped with the world’s most powerful laser, seen as crucial to the effort to produce modern nuclear weapons that could be targeted more precisely at enemy facilities.

Ministers have ensured the looming decision on whether to replace the Trident nuclear warheads, carried by specially-equipped submarines patrolling British coastal waters, will not be taken until after the next election, in an acknowledgement of the acute political sensitivities surrounding the move.

They have already begun to marshal their forces in preparation for a debate that threatens to reawaken the furious rows during the Cold War in the 1980s, when campaigners and the Labour party itself argued that Britain should unilaterally abandon its nuclear weapons.

Scotland on Sunday can reveal that a secret opinion poll commissioned by the Ministry of Defence has exposed a rising tide of anti-nuclear feeling in the country. The results, showing that almost four in 10 of the population want the nuclear arsenal scrapped altogether, demonstrate that if Labour is re-elected it will face a battle to justify any move to a more offensive nuclear capability.

Out of more than 2,000 adults questioned by Mori pollsters late last year, the narrowest majority - 51% - rejected the premise that the UK should not possess nuclear weapons. But while 11% strongly disagreed, the other 40% only "tended to agree". Some 45% overall agreed that nuclear weapons are less central to UK security in the 21st century. A senior MoD source last night admitted the level of opposition to Britain’s status as a nuclear power had been "a big surprise".

Ministers have consistently denied they have already decided to replace the Trident warheads, carried on four submarines based at Faslane, on the Clyde. Maintaining Britain’s sole nuclear weapons system, swallows up to 3% of the MoD’s under-pressure budget, about 1bn a year.

But Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon last week confirmed that "decisions on whether to replace Trident are likely to be required in the next Parliament". He added: "The costs of the design and manufacture of any nuclear warhead would depend on a range of factors, and these will be considered as part of any such decision."

Military experts believe the Trident system, brought into service in 1994, has a life-span of 30 years at most, but work on a replacement would have to begin by 2010.

Britain has taken an active part in international efforts to reduce nuclear weapons, slashing its stockpile of warheads by 70% to fewer than 200.

The operational readiness of its nuclear forces has also been reduced to the point where a single Trident submarine is now on deterrent patrol, with its missiles "de-targeted" and normally on several days’ "notice to fire".

But amid the continuing threat of nuclear proliferation among other nations, notably India and Pakistan, and fears that the technology could eventually fall into the hands of terrorists, ministers have signalled that they are not prepared to go any further.

Scotland on Sunday understands that hawks within the Ministry of Defence along with Hoon himself, are determined to maintain a significant nuclear capability. But they now favour more up-to-date "usable" alternatives, including the smaller and cheaper battlefield weapons with less radioactive fall-out proposed by the Americans.

In the past 12 months, British scientists have made visits to all America’s major weapons laboratories, including the Los Alamos complex. At Aldermaston, their new Orion laser will simulate conditions "found at the centre of a star or within a nuclear detonation".

Relatively small ‘battlefield’ nuclear weapons can be delivered by aircraft, cruise missiles, and even artillery. Bush this month agreed a multi-million-dollar package to fund research into the new generation of low-yield nuclear weapons.

Kate Hudson, chair of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, said last night of the poll: "These figures show the views of the British public are worth more than the current policy of the British government.

"Nuclear weapons are proven weapons of mass destruction and the idea that more usable nuclear weapons could be developed that could be used in further pre-emptive wars is abhorrent. It goes against the grain of international law and basic morality."