With labour looking to rid us of our nuclear weapons and Conservatives trying to ensure we keep them who do you think is right?

Labour is saying that we wouldnt need them in 2020 as things will change but who knows what the future holds.

I am totally for keeping nuclear weapons and hope to god we keep them to defend our nation. I think enough has already been shaven off our armed forces enough. If they want to make cuts then bring back national service to help.

Nuclear submanrines are very expensive to run and the money could be spent elsewhere. The present submarines could easily be refurbished if they were needed beyond that date.

Nuclear weapons these days are not for a pre-emptive strike, they are basically "If we are gonna die, we will take you with us" to stop other people from just nuking us as they know they cant win without massive casualties themselves.

We are no longer a prime target for any nuclear capable nation as most of those that have them or are building them are either our neighbours/friends or are not interested us and they are there for a reason (ie pakistan/india)

We are much more vunerable to terrorists than a nation firing missles upon us. And you cannot retaliate with a nuclear strike against a terrorist organisation as you can against a nation.

My vote is against nuclear weapons.

Better to have them and not need them than to not have them and need them.

At best they are a deterrent and, TBH, they arent a very good one. Nobody is interested in invading the UK anyway. It could be better spent on other things, even the TA...

At best they are a deterrent and, TBH, they arent a very good one. Nobody is interested in invading the UK anyway. It could be better spent on other things, even the TA...

And look at the mess they got themselves into when they cut back on the TA... they have made some pretty silly mistakes & getting rid of nukes would be bloody stupid - we are better off scrapping this whole Joint strike fighter crap with the yanks & cutting back on the eurofighter.

Quote from: Serious

At best they are a deterrent and, TBH, they arent a very good one. Nobody is interested in invading the UK anyway. It could be better spent on other things, even the TA...

And look at the mess they got themselves into when they cut back on the TA... they have made some pretty silly mistakes & getting rid of nukes would be bloody stupid - we are better off scrapping this whole Joint strike fighter crap with the yanks & cutting back on the eurofighter.

We would still have the present submarines, they should be easy enough to update. Generally military equipment is continually getting more expensive which might not be the best option.

We need more well trained soldiers, dispite the tongue the TA are as good as any.

but lets face it, no one likes the french anyway  :wink:

Hmm, make Paris glow  

Personally im for more weapons testing.

A tactical nuclear weapon need not bring death to a 300mile radius

A tactical nuclear weapon could be developed to co-exist with existing technologies. Imagine a rather powerful grenade? Useful for battling against cave dwelling terrorists (afganistan), either they get killed, irradiated, or suffocate to death when the mouth of the cave collapses. No need to risk our boys lives in dingy caves.

Smaller bunker buster bombs. Can penetrate reinforced bunkers, and have a smaller payload yet equally powerful, Allowing more weight to be put into penetration mechanisms (more effective at busting bunkers).

The future isnt trident, nor cruise missiles. The future is smaller bombs, higher or the same rating of power, being more effective at what they do. Why use cluster bombs to clear airfields, use a small nuke to destroy the tarmac. Granted they will irradiate a large area and dust can be carried on the wind... but used sensibly they are as useful as the more usual payloads.

Re-open weapons testing on limited sized nuclear weapons. (No more super H bomb bollocks, lets actually think of a legitimate use for these weapons.)

Nukes.. a defence? how so? they are all about retaliation or attack