What is Trident and what has Jeremy Corbyn said about the UK’s nuclear deterrent?

THE general election campaign is in full swing, and one of the issues leading the agenda is Trident – the UK's nuclear deterrent.

But what is the £40 billion missile system, and what have Jeremy Corbyn and Theresa May said on the issue? Here's all you need to know...

What is Trident?

Trident is the UK's nuclear missile system designed as a deterrent to stop foreign powers attacking Britain and her allies.

The name refers to the missiles which are carried by four Vanguard class submarines, which have up to eight nuclear warheads each.

At any given time one sub is out on patrol while the other three are either, undergoing maintenance, preparing for patrol, or recovering from patrol.

Britain has operated a system of this ilk in some form or another since 1969.

"Operation relentless" as it is known by the Ministry of Defence, is based out of he Faslane area of Scotland.

The Trident system has been used since 1994 when it replace the Polaris Missile system.

Trident could still operate after all the rest of Britain's defences had fallen as every sub carries a letter of last resort from the Prime Minister detailing what to do in a crisis.

Each missile is thought to be eight times more powerful than the nuclear device that flattened Hiroshima in 1945, killing 140,000 people.

What have Jeremy Corbyn and Theresa May said about Trident?

Jeremy Corbyn was branded a danger to Britain after signalling he would scrap Trident in a car-crash interview with Andrew Marr back in April.

Corbyn went against his party’s official position by saying he was not sure a promise to renew Trident nukes would be in Labour’s election manifesto.

Challenged on what “last resort” instructions he would give nuclear submarine commanders in the event of Britain being wiped out, he said: “A strict instruction — follow orders when given.”

He added: “I’ve made clear that any use of nuclear weapons is a disaster.”

Soon after, Theresa May’s defence chief guaranteed the PM would launch a nuclear strike in a crisis.

Sir Michael Fallon branded the Labour leader a national security risk as he insisted the Conservatives had the guts to press the button.

He said: “I mean, this is a man who could be Prime Minister in six weeks.

“In the most extreme circumstances, we have made it very clear that you can’t rule out the use of nuclear weapons as a first strike.”

But Shadow Defence Secretary Nia Griffith insisted the renewal of Trident would be in the Labour manifesto.

And she told the BBC: “We are prepared to use it. I am certainly prepared to use it.”

As it happened, Labour did include a commitment to the renewal of Trident in its manifesto for the 2017 General Election.

However, in yet another awkward TV exchange, this time with Andrew Neil, Corbyn contradicted his own party's pledge by refusing SIX times to give his personal backing to the weapons system.

What happened when Trident misfired?

Trident was tested in June 2016 when one of the submarines was just off the coast of Florida, USA - and reportedly badly misfired.