Britain plans to buy US sub-based Tridents

July 16, 1980

Britain announced Tuesday it will purchase the Trident submarine- based nuclear missile system from the United States at a cost of $11.5 billion to replace its aging Polaris strategic deterrent. Defense Secretary Francis Pym, in a long-awaited announcement, also told Parliament Britain would build four nuclear-powered, missile-carrying submarines to come into service in the early 1990s.