Ballistic missile submarine
The deployment of ballistic missile submarines is dominated by the United States and Russia (following the collapse of the Soviet Union).
[1] Smaller numbers are in service with France, the United Kingdom, China and India; North Korea is also suspected to have an experimental submarine that is diesel-electric powered.
Toward the end of the war, a V2 version was developed at the Peenemünde Army Research Station to be towed in a launch container behind a submarine.
[7] Five additional Project V611 and AV611 (Zulu V class) boats became the world's first operational ballistic submarines with two R-11FM missiles each, entering service in 1956–57.
[8] They were followed by a series of 23 specifically designed Project 629 (Golf class) boats, completed 1958–1962, with three vertical launch tubes incorporated in the sail/fin of each submarine.
George Washington was redesigned and rebuilt early in construction from a Skipjack-class fast attack submarine, USS Scorpion, with a 130 ft (40 m) missile compartment welded into the middle.
The USSR and subsequently Russia deployed three different SLBM types with solid fuel (R-31 in 1980, R-39 Rif in 1983, and RSM-56 Bulava in 2018).
The Soviets were only a year behind the US with their first nuclear powered ballistic missile boat, the ill-fated K-19 of Project 658 (Hotel class), commissioned in November 1960.
The first Soviet nuclear submarine with 16 missiles was the Project 667A (Yankee class), the first of which entered service in 1967, by which time the US had already commissioned 41 SSBNs, nicknamed the "41 for Freedom".
Le Redoutable entered operational service in December 1971 and was the first of a series of 6 ships, with a 7,500-ton displacement and equipped with 16 French-made M1 missiles.
When the USS Ohio commenced sea trials in 1980, two US Benjamin Franklin-class SSBNs had their missiles removed to comply with SALT treaty requirements; the remaining eight were converted to attack submarines (SSN) by the end of 1982.
Eighteen Ohio-class boats were commissioned by 1997,[26] four of which were converted to cruise missile submarines (SSGN) in the 2000s to comply with START I treaty requirements.
With the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War in 1991, construction of new nuclear submarines by Russia was put on hold for over ten years and was slowed in the United States.
Additionally the US rapidly decommissioned its 31 older remaining SSBNs, with a few converted to other roles, and the base at Holy Loch in Scotland was disestablished.
Most of the former Soviet nuclear submarine force was gradually scrapped under the provisions of the Nunn–Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction agreement through 2012.
This class is intended to replace the aging Deltas, and carries 16 solid-fuel RSM-56 Bulava missiles, with a reported range of 10,000 kilometres (5,400 nmi) and six MIRV warheads.
The United Kingdom and France are set to replace in the early 2030s their current fleets composed respectively of Vanguard and Triomphant with third generation Dreadnought and unnamed SNLE 3G SLBMs.
They serve as the third leg of the nuclear triad in countries that also operate nuclear-armed land based missiles and aircraft.
Accordingly, the mission profile of a ballistic missile submarine concentrates on remaining undetected, rather than aggressively pursuing other vessels.
[31] Ballistic missile submarines are designed for stealth to avoid detection at all costs, and that makes nuclear power, allowing almost the entire patrol to be conducted submerged, very important.
[32] Jackson also derived the armament of 16 missiles used in many SSBNs for the George Washington class in 1957, based on a compromise between firepower and hull integrity.
[35] The French Navy commissioned its first ballistic missile submarines as SNLE, for Sous-marin Nucléaire Lanceur d'Engins (lit.
The term applies both to ballistic missile submarines in general (for instance "British SNLE" occurs[36]) and, more technically, as a specific classification of the Redoutable class.
Another designation used was PLARB(«ПЛАРБ» – подводная лодка атомная с баллистическими ракетами, which translates as "Nuclear Submarine with Ballistic Missiles").
