"In an insecure world we must and will always have the strength to take all necessary long-term decisions for stability and security," said Brown, who is almost certain to succeed Prime Minister Tony Blair as leader of the ruling Labour Party.

Britain, he said, would remaind "strong in defence, in fighting terrorism, upholding NATO, supporting our armed forces at home and abroad - and retaining our independent nuclear deterrent".

Political analysts said the almost passing remark signalled to the nation and the world that Brown was committed in the long term to Britain remaining a nuclear power in the decades to come.

Britain's current nuclear deterrent was put into place in the 1980s by then prime minister Margaret Thatcher, when the Soviet Union - not global terrorist groups such as Al-Qaeda - was seen as the primary threat.

It is based on four Royal Navy submarines fitted with US-built Trident missiles which are due to become obsolete in the 2020s. One of the submarines is always on patrol but the missiles are no longer pre-targeted.

Replacing the deterrent is likely to cost anywhere from 10 billion to 25 billion pounds (14.6 billion to 36.4 billion euros, 18.6 billion to 46.1 billion dollars), observers say.

Blair told a parliamentary committee in March that there would be a "fullest possible debate" on Trident's future, although he refused to commit himself to a decisive vote in parliament on the issue.

Critics say that by keeping its deterrent, Britain would be flaunting a commitment under the global nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty to move to nuclear disarmament. They also point out that nuclear missiles are near-useless in fighting terrorist cells.

Blair, whose Labour Party is suffering its lowest ratings in public opinion polls in two decades, is widely expected to step down as prime minister some time during the current parliamentary term, making way for Brown.

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