Dreadnought defences

sir – You report (Business, May 9) that the Ministry of Defence has awarded defence contracts to BAE Systems and Rolls-royce to build four Dreadnoughtclass submarines. Given the emergence of multiple nuclear threats, however, surely Britain needs at least five to ensure a credible independent deterrent up to the 2060s.

Russia has threatened to use nuclear weapons; China is rapidly increasing its nuclear forces; North Korea now has nuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic missiles; and Iran could build a nuclear weapon at short notice.

The Royal Navy has maintained continuous at-sea deterrence for more than 50 years, a posture that deters pre-emptive strikes. But the refit, maintenance, training and operational cycle requires four submarines to maintain one on continuous patrol. Building a fifth would enable a second submarine to be deployed in times of crisis, when it is possible we could be facing concurrent nuclear threats.

In the final analysis, it is nuclear deterrence, not conventional force levels, that will shape the thinking and constrain the actions of these totalitarian and dangerous nuclearweapon states.

Rear Admiral Philip Mathias (retd) Director of Nuclear Policy, 2005-2008 Southsea, Hampshire

sir – I am a little concerned that the £10billion Dreadnought submarine, which is to replace the Vanguard, will have a crew of 130, plus three chefs and a doctor.

In my day, chefs and doctors were always part of the ship’s company. Has the execrable and inexorable spread of contractorisation of support staff for the military really gone this deep? Commander B V Stonham (retd) Weymouth, Dorset