UK Nuclear Weapons (Trident)?

Of course it would (launch an nuclear attack) if Britain itself was attacked. That's the whole point of having them in the first place: It's a deterrent that simply says, "If you nuke us, we'll nuke you back".

As for the cost, Britain buys weapons from the US because it's simply cheaper than manufacturing their own. It COULD make it's own, but the cost of the entire project would increase several times over.

EDIT: "If another country was to nukes us, there would be no counter strike, the UK would be wiped off the map, starting with london first taking out the whole government, Im sure (not 100%) that the PM is the only one with the launch codes.":

That's why they're put on submarines, which are pretty damn hard to find when at sea. When deployed, the Navy itself, and even most of the crew on board, don't know precisely where they are.

As for launching the missiles, if London was destroyed, and the PM and government killed, the end-point in the chain of command is a letter kept on board the submarine, personally written by the Prime Minister, containing instructions to the Commander on what to do in that scenario. As for what those instructions are, nobody knows (as the letter is destroyed, unread, when a new PM comes to power).

Gordon... the falklands? indian's military is hopelessly out of date using equipment dating back to the 1960's.

Freefly, they were sited because of the unique natural defences in the area, it's well known that there are dangerous underwater rock formations in the inlet making it too dangerous for a foreign sub to enter with the purpose of spying without accurate underwater survey charts. You will also see nuclear subs in portsmouth and southampton. If there ever was a nuclear strike on the uk mainland by a major power it wouldn't matter where you were anyway.

as for the question, it's not about whether we would launch, it's called a deterent. People won't launch at us if they know we can incinerate them in return. All the world's major powers (except japan) are nuclear armed.

Edit: Joe, we do make and service our own, it's done at the Nuclear facility in Aldermaston. With polaris we operated the system in conjunction with the yanks. The missile itself is an american design but the warheads are a british design incorporating some american elements from their version of trident. Ours can alter the total yield with ease and warheads can be removed easier.

EDIT: seth it's perfectly possible to launch a counter strike. an icbm from china, the US or russia would involve a significant flight time from leaving the launcher, entering the atmosphere and coming back down again. Plenty of time to order a counter strike. As soon as a launch is detected do you really think the government would sit in london and wait for it? That's why we have bunkers/shelters underground.

It's never going to be a simple matter of saying yes or no. Nuclear weapons are in this world, and we have to adjust to that, not ignore it. The Cold War, was unfortunately living proof that these weapons do actually act as a deterrent, and as a result keep the peace. Think of the world as being in a Mexican Standoff. Many countries not registered as having a nuclear arsenal have these weapons also, so it would be disasterous to simply get rid of them. Until the entire world trusts each other, we sadly need these weapons regrdless of the financial cost.

First of all. -flash1957 do u realize the UK and USA are considered to be very close allies? The usa and uk have considered to have special relations with each other being that the usa is so willing to lend the uk its nuclear weapon and stealth expertise to the UK? Did you also know the trident missile is an American design? - now answering the question- the uk's nucpear force is strictly for deterance. Not for preemptive strike, or nuclear warfare simply for deterence. And the uk does have enough missile subs for an effective retaliatory strike.

I have more faith in our missiles hitting the correct target. If the USA launched some, watch out they may land any where, most likely on us in the UK. As they do not know friend from foe.

Lets hope not as I live in Scotland and all those things are on my doorstep. Very cunning of the UK government to keep them as far away as possible from jolly old London.

The uk can't do sh*t without Americans backing them. Hell even India could tramp on the british anyday of the week