Britain's Royal Navy failed for the second time in a row to launch a Trident nuclear missile for testing

The test launch of a British nuclear missile from a Royal Navy submarine was unsuccessful for the second time in a row, which the tabloids called a humiliation for the Royal Navy.

The Trident II ballistic missile fell into the sea near the launch site off the coast of Florida. Moreover, the Secretary of Defense of Great Britain Grant Shapps was on board the submarine carrier HMS Vanguard during the unsuccessful test.

The Ministry of Defense (MoD) informed Business Insider that during the testing of British nuclear deterrence forces, an "anomaly" occurred. The exact reason for what went wrong remains completely confidential.

The test overall confirmed the effectiveness of the British nuclear deterrent forces, in which we are absolutely confident. We are sure that the anomaly was related to a specific event, and therefore there are no consequences for the reliability of the Trident missile systems. The nuclear deterrent forces of Great Britain remain safe, reliable and effective.

— said a MoD representative.

Trident is the name of the British nuclear weapons program, which includes a group of four submarines, long-range missiles, and nuclear warheads. At least one submarine is on constant patrol to deter threats, and warheads are not installed on missiles during tests. The Trident II missiles were developed in the USA by Lockheed Martin.

Officials say that the Trident missile remains one of the most effective in the world and has successfully passed 190 tests. The latest occurred in 2016, when a British fleet submarine off the coast of the USA launched a missile at a pre-determined target in the sea off the coast of West Africa. However, it failed and instead headed towards the USA.

The January test failure was another in a series of frustrating incidents for the Royal Navy, which, according to critics, has long been underfunded. Earlier this month, two Royal Navy aircraft carriers experienced technical problems, preventing them from joining NATO exercises off the coast of Norway.