A collision between a British nuclear-powered submarine carrying multiple nuclear warheads and a French nuclear submarine armed with a similar payload may have been the result of lack of communication between France and NATO nations, according to a former British submarine commander whose revelations were partially corroborated by an official at the French navy.Sometime on Feb. 3 or 4, the British HMS Vanguard and France's Le Triomphant collided in the mid-Atlantic.
The accident probably happened because the two submarines were not aware of each other.
NATO operates a traffic control system that alerts allied nations to the deployment zones of friendly submarines.
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Blaming France for not being in NATO - from the opinions of a retired UK submariner - is not definitive reporting.
ReplyDeleteFrance see advantages from having a nuclear deterent that is not part of the Anglo dominated NATO command structure.
Not telling the many countries of NATO where its submarines are is a prudent French security measure - in France's national interests.
One non fatal SLBM-SLBM collision event in more than 30 years of SLBM operating which may or may not be due to Fench policies - is probably a fair tradeoff for France.
Pete
Hi Pete,
ReplyDeleteI don't think you can blame France for not knowing where the NATO submarines are.
France doesn't tell NATO so NATO doesn't tell France.
They are working on a solution to prevent this from happening again.
I agree Kobus
ReplyDeleteIf France the US and UK at a minimum shared positional information in the Atlantic that would be an improvement. I choose those countries because they are the only Western countries operating the high value SLBM "Boomer" subs.
Pete