Former First Sea Lord hails nuclear weapons ‘ultimate safeguard’ 70 years after UK’s first atomic bomb test
A FORMER UK First Sea Lord has hailed nuclear weapons as “the ultimate safeguard” on the 70th anniversary of Britain’s first atomic bomb test.
Admiral Lord West said nukes are a crucial defence against hostile threats.
Referring to Russian leader Vladimir Putin, he said “Can you imagine if Putin had nuclear weapons and the West didn’t?
“He would not hesitate to use them, let’s face it…
“As one’s always said about our deterrent, this is the ultimate safeguard for our national security from states with nuclear weapons.”
Putin, 69, whose troops invaded Ukraine, threatened to use nuclear bombs against the West in a recent speech.
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Lord West, 74, served as First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff from 2002 to 2006.
He said: “During the Cold War, the balance of nuclear weapons was the reason it didn’t become a third World War, which would’ve seen millions and millions killed.”
Britain’s first atomic bomb was detonated in 1952 inside the hull of the HMS Plymouth under a top secret plan codenamed Operation Hurricane.
The blast off the coast of Australia’s uninhabited Montebello Islands, left a 20ft crater in the seabed.
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The test bomb, with 25 kilotons of force, was more powerful than those dropped on Japanese cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.
Lord West, who served in the Navy for 42 years, said: “In those days you didn’t have computer modelling — you had to actually make one go bang to know you had one that worked.”
