AH Challenge: IRBM with an Union Jack on it?

Under Thatcher we very nearly had an IRBM force as there was the idea of shipping some cut-down Minutemen missiles over to the UK that would be operated and sort of owned by the UK.
Well that sounds absolutely bonkers. Seriously, unless the US was offering them free of charge better to just buy a fifth Vanguard-class ballistic missile submarine if they wanted to expand the nuclear arsenal.
 
The main problem I can see with this is that it assumes a period of heightened tensions preceding any outbreak of war, that might be the most probable case but the military can't rule out the idea of an attack coming out of the blue. I could well be mistaken but IIRC even during the Cuban Missile Crisis the RAF didn't go to having planes in the air like SAC's continuous airborne alert - the UK simply didn't have the number of personnel, aircraft, or financial resources to operate the ones they did in that manner. The highest readiness state they had was Quick Reaction Alert with aircraft being fuelled and armed, sitting on the hardstand next to the runway, with the crew either onboard or in a caravan right next to it.



I'm not sure even something like the Titan II would be enough for the UK to operate under a launch on warning system. Unlike the US due to geography the UK would only get four or five minutes warning of incoming missile from Eastern Europe or the Soviet Union proper, that pushes the decision-making time down so low that it raises the prospect of launches being made due to false reports of an attack as there's little time for rechecking or confirmation. Any British silo-based missiles would most likely be retaliation weapons to 'ride out' the initial attacks and then respond in kind, at least for the fifteen or so years they'd be operational before the CEP of Soviet missiles improved enough as to make them redundant.

There is no desperate need to keep V bombers in the air, merely to use regular training flights to keep them constantly changing position. With the amount of air bases available to the V force in Europe and the Mid East the Soviets would have to nuke dozens or even close to 100 to be sure. Such a task would take up so many soviet bombers and missiles that it would not be profitable .

Similarly the British could keep 1/2 - 1/3 of a 60 strong IRBM fleet on launch on warning status for a prolonged period. The Soviet Union would have to target all 60 silos to ensure that all were knocked out.

The Soviet Union was very hard up for luanchers well into the 60s considering the amount of targets they needed to cover.
 
Top