Facts about the Trident Nuclear Weapons system
Trident nuclear weapons submarines form the center of the sea-launched nuclear weapons capability of the United States. There are 18 Trident-class subs (SSBN), 14 of which are allowed under the START Treaty to carry nuclear warheads. The other four (SSGN) have been retrofitted to carry non-nuclear weapons (Cruise missiles, small launchable submarines, and troop deployment capability).
Of the 14 Trident submarine warships 8 are homeported at Bangor, Washington, and 6 are homeported at King's Bay, Georgia. Typically, half the fleet is at sea on missions lasting about ten weeks while the other half is being serviced in port. Each warship has two crews, so the individual sailor has ten weeks as sea and ten weeks on shore. Training is continuous in both settings, and the frequency of missions has remained at Cold War levels.
Each SSBN warship has 24 missile tubes. They are all now fitted with D-5 missiles. Each D-5 missile can carry up to 12 warheads. They are currently configured to carry up to 8 W-88 warheads, although under the agreed-on reductions in negotiations with Russia, the actual number deployed is likely half that. These are hydrogen bombs designed to explode with 450-475 kilotons of TNT equivalent force, which if detonated at ground level would blow out a crater nearly a half mile wide and several hundreds of feet deep.
Fully loaded a Trident SSBN warship could carry 192 of these warheads, each independently targetable via a sophisticated satellite navigation guidance system. If ever ordered to launch its entire payload on 192 cities, a single SSBN warship could conceivably bring on nuclear winter in the hemisphere. Nuclear winter is the name given to the possibility that enough soot sent into the atmosphere would block out the sun for weeks to months and thereby bring about the collapse of agriculture and mass starvation beyond the direct devastation of the bombs alone. This is the unthinkable capacity of this weapons system.
Publicized accuracy of the D-5 missile claims it can hit homeplate in a baseball diamond at 4000 miles. Given this range and accuracy, Robert Aldridge, who was helping design the Trident system for Lockheed in the early 1970's, quit his job to expose the US development of this first strike nuclear weapons system, and helped to found the Ground Zero Center for Nonvilent Action. The US Navy touts the Trident system for its ability to project US power anywhere in the world. There is not target in the Northern Hemisphere that the Trident system cannot obliterate within about 30 minutes of launch.
Builders: General Dynamics Electric Boat
Operators: United States Navy
Preceded by: Benjamin Franklin class
Built: 1976 – 1997
In commission: 1981 – present
Completed: 18
Active: 18
General characteristics
Type: SSBN/SSGN
Displacement: 16,764 tonnes (16,499 long tons) Surfaced
18,750 tonnes (18,450 long tons) Submerged
Length: 560 ft (170 m)
Beam: 42 ft (13 m)
Draft: 38 ft (12 m)
Propulsion: 1×S8G PWR nuclear reactor
2×geared turbines
1×325 horsepower (242 kW) auxiliary motor
1 shaft @ 60,000 shp (45 MW)
Speed: 12 knots (14 mph; 22 km/h) surfaced
+20 knots (23 mph; 37 km/h) submerged (official)
25 knots (29 mph; 46 km/h) submerged (reported)
Range: Unlimited except by food supplies
Test depth: +800 ft (240 m)
Crew: 15 officers
140 enlisted
Sensors and
processing systems: BQQ-6 Bow mounted sonar
BQR-19 Navigation
BQS-13 Active sonar
TB-16 towed array
Armament:
4×21 in bow torpedo tubes.
* SSBN-726 to SSBN-733 from construction to refueling
24 Trident I C4 SLBM with up to eight MIRVed 100kT W76 nuclear warheads, range 4,000 nmi (4,600 mi; 7,400 km)
* SSBN-734 and subsequent hulls upon construction, SSBN-730 to SSBN-733 since refueling
24 Trident II D5 SLBM with up to 12 W76 or W88 (300–475 kTTNT) nuclear warheads (with MIRV), range 6,500 nmi (7,500 mi; 12,000 km)
* SSGN conversion
22 tubes, each with 7 Tomahawk cruise missiles.
-- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohio_class_submarine
Ohio class Trident Nuclear Weapons Submarines (SSBN/SSGN) - from Wikipedia
Launch Sequence--Instructions for the End of Time
I have been involved in anti-war work and research for over 25 years. I know that war is not the answer. We must learn to love our enemies more than ourselves.
Recently I received documents from the U.S. Navy reminding me the importance of finding new ways to solve our differences. Sandwiched in a packet of information released through the Freedom of Information Act was the launch sequence for the Trident D-5 missile. Reading like the poetry of death was a description of the missile’s flight through the stratosphere to deliver its nuclear payload.1
It begins:
Launch and Flight Sequence.2 Upon completion of missile prepare, the weapons officer depresses the tactical firing trigger to initiate the launch command. This causes the coded charge and trigger signals to be routed to the launch gas generator firing unit, resulting in gas generator ignition. The following sequence of events will then occur during a normal launch and flight:
1. The missile is ejected from the submarine launch tube by a mixture of gas and steam.
2. After the missile travels a specified distance, the first stage rocket motor ignites and the aerospike deploys.
3. For flight, guidance issues steering commands to align the missile in order to achieve the desired trajectory.
4. During first stage flight, the RB launch accelerometer closes and latches, the RB long life thermal battery is activated and the intent word is sent from flight control electronics to each RB to enable the first dual stronglink assembly safing wheel.
5. The second stage rocket motor ignites and first stage separation occurs.
6. The missile nose fairing is separated and ejected clear of the missile flight path.
7. The third stage rocket motor ignites and second stage separation occurs.
8. The guidance subsystem determines that the missile is on course and, at the proper time, sends the signals for third stage separation.
9. During missile flight, the flight control electronics creates an in-flight profile word based on six critical trajectory events. Subsequent to third stage separation, the in-flight profile word is used to enable the second dual stronglink assembly safing wheel in each RB.
10. The maneuverable equipment section, following a stellar guidance update, flies to its required position, releases an RB, and proceeds to its next position. These steps are repeated until all RBs have been released. Each RB receives a safe-to-arm signal (STAS) at release.
11. Each RB continues on its ballistic trajectory and stabilizes upon reentering the atmosphere.
12. The reentry thermal battery (RTB) is activated.
13. The arming signal is sent to the fire set when all fuzing conditions have been satisfied.
14. The warhead is fully armed.
15. Depending on the selected burst option, the firing signal is generated by one of several components.
16. The warhead detonates.
Glen Milner lives in Seattle and is a member of Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action in Poulsbo, Washington.
