The Trident Sales Agreement and Cold War Diplomacy

The U.S. sale of Trident submarine-launched ballistic missile technology to Britain in 1982 resolved doubts that had emerged in the 1970s about the importance, durability, and strength of the Anglo-American nuclear partnership. But the Trident Sales Agreement did more than bring the “special relationship” out of the doldrums. It became an integral part of an Anglo-American agenda that bolstered North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) unity in the face of Soviet efforts to undermine the alliance’s nuclear objectives.