Gibraltar able to support ballistic missile submarines
Britain will continue to send nuclear-powered submarines to Gibraltar, said Commodore Allan Adair, the Commander of British Forces Gibraltar, and he does not rule out that such submarines could carry ballistic missiles.
In an exclusive interview with the Gibraltar daily ‘Panorama’, he was asked if Spanish concern about nuclear submarines would be taken into account on future calls here.
“Nuclear powered ships and submarines will always be welcome here and will continue to make use of Gibraltar as they have done for the past 40 years,” he said. He added:
“We only use Gibraltar as operationally necessary and any visits have no linkage whatsoever to any wider discussions with Spain.”
Asked by interviewer Brian McCann if visits would include nuclear weapon-carrying submarines, the military chief added:
“All I will say is that we are perfectly capable of supporting ballistic missile submarines here. We have done so in the past and I cannot rule out doing so in the future.”
He stressed that “we do not plan to carry out nuclear repairs here, but if it were safer to do so here, rather than anywhere else, then we would consider it.”
From Panorama, Gibraltar’s Online Daily Newspaper
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