A missile test-fired from a British nuclear submarine failed to launch, the second failed test in a row, The Sun newspaper reported, ahead of a Commons briefing to lawmakers on the topic.
The first-stage booster didn’t ignite, so the missile with dummy warheads that was launched from a Florida site splashed right next to it, though it didn’t hit the HMS Vanguard submarine, which had Defense Secretary Grant Shapps on board at the time, the report said.
The missile test was conducted in late January, the report said.
The Ministry of Defense told the newspaper the failure was “event specific” and that there was no implications for the reliability of the wider system.
In a previous test, in 2016, the boosters did ignite but then the missile went off course and automatically self-destructed. The last successful test was in 2012, the report said.
Lockheed Martin
LMT,
is the maker of the Trident 2.
