A Trident missile test conducted by the UK’s Royal Navy has failed for the second consecutive time. The missile, launched from HMS Vanguard, experienced a malfunction with its booster rockets and landed in the sea near the launch site. Despite the failure, UK Defence Secretary Grant Shapps expressed his confidence in the Trident system. The incident is a significant embarrassment for both the UK and the US manufacturer of the missile. Each Trident missile costs around £17m, and the last test in 2016 also ended in failure. The Labour Party and the Scottish National Party have voiced concerns over the effectiveness of the nuclear deterrent and its cost. The Ministry of Defence has confirmed an anomaly occurred during the test but maintains that Trident is the “most reliable weapons system in the world”.
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