Yeah but a land based ICBM could do that
for 1/10th of the cost.
The only use of trident is to counter a serious superpower attack which can take out all of our land based ICBMs magically knowing thier exact locations and defences.
(PsychoChomp, Wed 12 May 2010, 15:49, 3 replies, latest was 16 years ago)

they need the subs
so they can cram them full of gays.

/jest
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Wed 12 May 2010, 15:50, Reply)

I reas superpower as tupperware and laughed out loud.

( girlinthehole, Wed 12 May 2010, 15:52, Reply)

The sky is raining snap top lunch boxes!!
Run awaaaaaaaaaaaay!
( Kitty v1.0 desperately naive, Wed 12 May 2010, 16:40, Reply)

I confess I'm no expert
but I was under the impression that ICBM's are nowhere near as effective...
( whenanimalsattackhumans clad in global hypercolour, Wed 12 May 2010, 15:56, Reply)

They're incredibly effective at hitting borderline third world countries
The russians americans and to a lesser extent the chinese/europeans have some defence against them, but you're talking about a 50%ish chance of shooting them down before they detonate.
(PsychoChomp, Wed 12 May 2010, 15:58, Reply)

The subs are so we can hide the nukes
otherwise if we don't get teh land based missles in the air by the time the enemy missles land they may be destroyed before we can fire back.

I think that sentance highlights the pointlessness of nukes.
( Naked Ape call me Caitlyn, Wed 12 May 2010, 16:10, Reply)

Is Trident not just submarine-launched ICBMs?
In which case, all you're gaining is slightly more surprise on a first launch (easier to monitor a land mass than all of the oceans, everywhere) and less chance of them being taken out if someone else shoots first.
(wellgroomedwookiee is a filthy-minded hobgoblin, Wed 12 May 2010, 16:10, Reply)

yep for ten times the cost.

(PsychoChomp, Wed 12 May 2010, 16:11, Reply)

Cheapest option would be a suitcase-nukes-and-suicidal-fanatics scheme.
I cannot see any flaws with this idea.
(wellgroomedwookiee is a filthy-minded hobgoblin, Wed 12 May 2010, 16:35, Reply)