Putin 'not stupid' – UK nukes will still keep him under control despite Trident 2 failures, ex-Navy commander insists

Vladimir Putin is “not stupid” and will know Britain's nuclear deterrent still works despite two failed Trident 2 missile launches, a former naval commander has told The Sun.

Former first sea lord admiral Lord West said the failed Trident launches were “embarrassing” but he insisted the doomsday missiles would work if The third world war.

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He said: “Putin may be bloodthirsty and nasty but he's not stupid, he knows a bit about submarines, he knows we don't have a problem.

“It's just embarrassing. Of course, it's a shame.”

The Sun revealed that the Trident 2 D5 missile suffered a dramatic misfire and fell into the ocean yards from HMS Vanguard, the Royal Navy the submarine that released him.

It was the second failed launch since 2016, when HMS Vengeance fired a missile that went off course and self-destructed.

This has raised concerns that the failed tests could be emboldened Russia if Moscow believed that deterrence – the cornerstone of Britain's defense – had not worked.

The last time the Trident missile was successfully launched from a Royal Navy the submarine was more than 11 years ago.

Admiral Lord West told The Sun he was “very concerned at first” after the January 30 misfire.

And he added: “There were many people.

“But we've done an audit and there's no doubt that the system is working.

“Now we know what caused the problem. This was due to test firing, not proper firing.

“They will work hard to solve it.”

He said the Trident 2 missiles are so reliable that Russia didn't even bother to send a spy ship to watch the January 30th launch.

He said: “The Russians have always stationed a scout ship to watch these guns, but because the Trident is doing so well, they haven't even bothered to do it.

“They know it works.

“We know that live-active missiles with warheads will work, and let's hope we never have to use them.

“They will travel all 7,000 miles and place their warheads on targets with stunning accuracy, so we are not concerned.”

Lord West said the crew of HMS Vanguard were also “gloomy” after the test went wrong.

But he insisted that morale was now “very high” that they had worked out what had gone wrong.

He said the boat and crew had passed all tests in the exercise with flying colours, cementing HMS Vanguard's return to active service after a seven-year, £500m refit.

He said: “The Americans were amazed at how good the Vanguard crew was. They said it was one of the best crews that had ever passed the test site.”

The Ministry of Defense confirmed that “an anomaly has occurred” but insisted that the nuclear deterrent remains “effective”.

A spokesman told The Sun: “HMS Vanguard and her crew have been proven fully capable of operating Britain's Continuous Deterrence at Sea system by passing all tests during the recent Demonstration Operation (DASO) – a routine test that confirms a submarine can return to service after in-depth maintenance work.

“The test has once again confirmed the effectiveness of the UK's nuclear deterrent, of which we are absolutely confident.

“During the tests, an anomaly occurred. For national security reasons we cannot provide any further information on this, however we are confident that the anomaly was related to the specific event and therefore has no implications for the reliability of the wider Trident missile. The UK's nuclear deterrent remains safe, reliable and effective.”

Missile maker Lockheed Martin says Trident 2 missiles have been successfully tested a “record” 191 times since 1989.

Minister of Defense Grant Shapps and First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Ben Key were both on board the submarine HMS Vanguard for the January 30 exercise.

A 60-ton Trident 2 missile launched from the launch tubes of a submarine in a cloud of compressed gas as planned.

But its first-stage rocket boosters failed to ignite, and it splashed back into the Atlantic.

A source said: “She got off the submarine but she just flopped, didn't she the next one them”.

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