The Royal Navy is due to test fire a nuclear missile for the first time since a failed launch eight years ago, it has emerged.
HMS Vanguard, one of the UK’s four nuclear submarines, is expected to launch a single unarmed missile from 56 miles off the US east coast in the coming days.
The tests are the final hurdle for HMS Vanguard to re-enter service as part of the UK’s nuclear deterrent fleet after the submarine underwent a £500 million overhaul that took three years longer than planned.
The US National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency issued a warning to shipping this week that plotted the missile’s expected course to an impact in the mid-Atlantic.
According to the “hazardous operations” warning, the 60-tonne missile is due to
