Trident: Operating Costs

Mr. Salmond
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the current annual operating cost is of the Trident submarine fleet and missiles.

Des Browne
[holding answer 28 January 2008]: The annual expenditure for capital and running costs of the current Trident nuclear deterrent, excluding costs for the Atomic Weapons Establishment, is expected to be around £720 million in 2007-08.