Submarine-launched ballistic missile

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Image:SNLE-SNLE-NG-vectoriel.png Submarine-launched ballistic missiles or SLBMs are ballistic missiles delivering nuclear weapons that are launched from submarines. Modern variants usually deliver multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRVs) each of which carries a warhead and allows a single launched missile to strike a handful of targets. The first successful tests of a submarine-based launch platform were by German U-boats in World War II using a submarine towed launch platform. These and other early SLBM systems required vessels to be surfaced when they fired missiles, but after World War 2, launch systems were quickly adapted to allow underwater launching. In September of 1955, the Soviet Union was the first country in the world to launch a ballistic missile from a submarine.

Ballistic missile submarines have been of great strategic importance for the USA and Russia since the Cold War, as they can hide from reconnaissance satellites and fire their nuclear weapons without much warning, even close to the opponent's coast.

Numerous international press reports since the middle 1990s attibute to Israel a policy of mounting missiles with nuclear warheads on the submarines it obtained from Germany, for use especially in the event of Iran developing nuclar arms of its own. The government of Israel persistently denies all such reports, though they will neither confirm nor deny whether they have nuclear weapons.

Contents 1 Types of SLBMs 2 Types of SSBNs 3 See also 4 External links

Types of SLBMs

Specific types of SLBMs include:

• French:
  • M45 SLBM
  • M51 SLBM
  • M-4 SLBM
• US and UK:
  • Polaris missile
  • Poseidon missile
  • Trident missile - current
• Soviet Union/Russia:
  • SS-N-4 R-13
  • SS-N-5 "Sark",R-21
  • SS-N-6 "Serb",R-27
  • SS-N-8 "Sawfly",R-29
  • SS-N-17 "Snipe",R-31
  • SS-N-18 "Stingray", R-29,RSM-50
  • R-39 missile, SS-N-20 "Sturgeon", RSM-52
  • SS-N-23 "Skiff", R-29RM,RSM-54
• People's Republic of China:
  • JL-1 and JL-2

Types of SSBNs

Specific types of ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs) include:

• Benjamin Franklin class submarine - former, US
• Triomphant class submarine - current, France
• Ohio class submarine - current, US
• Resolution class submarine - former, UK
• Vanguard class submarine - current, UK
• List of NATO reporting names for ballistic missile submarines - current and former, Russia
• Xia class submarine - current, China

See also

• ICBM
• nuclear navy
• nuclear warfare
• nuclear strategy
• submarine
• submarine-launched missile
• Strategic triad
• vertical launching system

External links

• Estimated Strategic Nuclear Weapons Inventories (September 2004)

List of missiles

Air-to-air missile (AAM) | Air-to-surface missile (ASM) | Surface-to-air missile (SAM) | Surface-to-surface missile (SSM) Ballistic missile | Intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) | Submarine launched ballistic missile (SLBM) | Anti-ballistic missile (ABM) Cruise missile | Anti-ship missile (AShM) | Anti-submarine Rocket (ASROC) | Anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) | Anti-satellite weapon (ASAT) | Anti-radiation missile Wire-guided missile | Infrared guidance | Beam riding | Laser guidance | Active radar guidance | Semi-active radar guidance

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