Tom Tugendhat
Main Page: Tom Tugendhat (Conservative - Tonbridge and Malling)Department Debates - View all Tom Tugendhat's debates with the Ministry of Defence
Trident: Test Firing
Tom Tugendhat Excerpts(7 years, 3 months ago)
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Sir Michael Fallon
Let me reassure the hon. Lady, who follows these matters extremely closely and is on the Defence Committee, that there is absolutely no doubt about the effectiveness of our deterrent. Again, had the Government any doubts about the continuing capability or effectiveness of the deterrent, we would not have brought the motion before the House last July.
Tom Tugendhat (Tonbridge and Malling) (Con)
Would my right hon. Friend agree not only that the Prime Minister was absolutely right not to discuss this issue on national television but that a 98% success rate in testing for a weapons system is phenomenal? Once it has been tested, all boats that go out are fully operational and 100% capable, and that is something for which we should pay huge tribute to Her Majesty’s Royal Navy and the sailors who serve on those boats.
Sir Michael Fallon
My hon. Friend is right to draw attention to the importance of these tests and to hint at the complexity of them and of the systems and sub-systems that are involved in maintaining the Trident deterrent. It is to the credit of the crew of HMS Vengeance that they were able to complete these tests last June, and they now take their place again in the operational cycle.