Submarine-launched ballistic missile

A submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) is a ballistic missile

Ballistic missile

A ballistic missile is a missile that follows a sub-orbital ballistic flightpath with the objective of delivering one or more warheads to a predetermined target. The missile is only guided during the relatively brief initial powered phase of flight and its course is subsequently governed by the...

capable of delivering a nuclear warhead

Nuclear weapon

A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. Both reactions release vast quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter. The first fission bomb test released the same amount...

that can be launched from submarine

Submarine

A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...

s. Modern variants usually deliver multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle

Multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle

A multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle warhead is a collection of nuclear weapons carried on a single intercontinental ballistic missile or a submarine-launched ballistic missile . Using a MIRV warhead, a single launched missile can strike several targets, or fewer targets redundantly...

s (MIRVs) each of which carries a warhead

Warhead

The term warhead refers to the explosive material and detonator that is delivered by a missile, rocket, or torpedo.- Etymology :During the early development of naval torpedoes, they could be equipped with an inert payload that was intended for use during training, test firing and exercises. This...

and allows a single launched missile to strike several targets. Submarine-launched ballistic missiles should not be confused with submarine-launched cruise missiles, which operate in a different way.

History

The first practical design of a submarine-based launch platform was developed by the Germans near the end of World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

involving a launch tube which contained a ballistic missile and was towed behind a submarine. The war ended before it could be tested, but the engineers who had worked on it went on to work for the USA and USSR on their SLBM programs. These and other early SLBM systems required vessels to be surfaced when they fired missiles, launch systems eventually were adapted to allow underwater launching in the 1950-1960s. The United States made the first successful underwater launch of a Polaris A1 on 20 July 1960. Forty days later, the Soviet Union made its first successful underwater launch of a submarine ballistic missile in the White Sea on 10 September 1960 from the same converted Project 611 (Zulu Class) submarine that first launched the R-11FM (SS-N-1 Scud-A, naval modification of SS-1 Scud

Scud

Scud is a series of tactical ballistic missiles developed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War, and exported widely to other countries. The term comes from the NATO reporting name SS-1 Scud which was attached to the missile by Western intelligence agencies...

) on 16 September 1955. However, the Soviet Union was able to beat the U.S. in launching and testing the first armed SLBM, an R-13 that detonated in the Novaya Zemlya

Novaya Zemlya

Novaya Zemlya , also known in Dutch as Nova Zembla and in Norwegian as , is an archipelago in the Arctic Ocean in the north of Russia and the extreme northeast of Europe, the easternmost point of Europe lying at Cape Flissingsky on the northern island...

Test Range in the Arctic Ocean, doing so on October 20, 1961.

Ballistic missile submarine

A ballistic missile submarine is a submarine equipped to launch ballistic missiles .-Description:Ballistic missile submarines are larger than any other type of submarine, in order to accommodate SLBMs such as the Russian R-29 or the American Trident...

s have been of great strategic importance for the USA

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

and Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

and other nuclear powers since the start of the Cold War

Cold War

The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...

, as they can hide from reconnaissance satellites and fire their nuclear weapons with virtual impunity. This makes them immune to a first strike

First strike

In nuclear strategy, a first strike is a preemptive surprise attack employing overwhelming force. First strike capability is a country's ability to defeat another nuclear power by destroying its arsenal to the point where the attacking country can survive the weakened retaliation while the opposing...

directed against nuclear forces, allowing each side to maintain the capability to launch a devastating retaliatory strike, even if all land-based missiles have been destroyed. This relieves each side of the necessity to adopt a launch on warning

Launch on warning

Launch on warning is a strategy of nuclear weapon retaliation that gained recognition during the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. With the invention of intercontinental ballistic missiles , launch on warning became an integral part of mutually assured destruction theory...

posture, with its grave attendant risk of accidental nuclear war. Additionally, the deployment of highly accurate missiles on ultra-quiet submarines allows an attacker to sneak up close to the enemy coast and launch a missile on a depressed trajectory - a very close range attack which will hit its target in a matter of minutes, thus opening the possibility of a decapitation strike

Decapitation strike

In the theory of nuclear warfare, a decapitation strike is a first strike attack that aims to remove the command and control mechanisms of the opponent, in the hope that it will severely degrade or destroy its capacity for nuclear retaliation....

Types of SLBMs

Specific types of SLBMs (current, past and under development) include:
United States

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

- UGM-27 Polaris and Chevaline
  Chevaline
  Chevaline was a system to improve the penetrability of the British Polaris missile warheads. Devised as an answer to the improved Soviet defences around Moscow, the system was intended to increase the probability that at least one warhead would penetrate the city's anti-ballistic missile defences,...
  
  (with UK) - decommissioned
- UGM-73 Poseidon - decommissioned
- UGM-96 Trident I (C4)
  UGM-96 Trident I
  The UGM-96 Trident I, or Trident C4 was an American Submarine-launched ballistic missile, built by Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Sunnyvale, California. First deployed in 1979, the Trident I replaced the Poseidon missile. It was retired in the Early 21st Century, having been replaced by the...
  
  - decommissioned
- UGM-133 Trident II (D5)
  UGM-133 Trident II
  UGM-133 Trident II, or Trident D5 is a submarine-launched ballistic missile, built by Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Sunnyvale, California, and deployed with the US Navy and Royal Navy. It was first deployed in 1990, and is still in service....
  
  - active

Soviet Union

Soviet Navy

The Soviet Navy was the naval arm of the Soviet Armed Forces. Often referred to as the Red Fleet, the Soviet Navy would have played an instrumental role in a Warsaw Pact war with NATO, where it would have attempted to prevent naval convoys from bringing reinforcements across the Atlantic Ocean...

/ Russia

- R-13 NATO name SS-N-4 - decommissioned
- R-21 NATO name SS-N-5 - decommissioned
- RSM-25 R-27 NATO name SS-N-6 - decommissioned
- RSM-40 R-29 "Vysota"
  R-29 Vysota
  R-29 Vysota is a family of Russian submarine-launched ballistic missiles, designed by State Rocket Center Makayev. Development of the R-29 SLBMs started in the 1963 and was first launched in 1969. It uses the storable Liquid rocket propellants N2O4/UDMH. Over time different versions have developed...
  
  , NATO name SS-N-8 "Sawfly" - decommissioned
- RSM-45 R-31
  SS-N-17
  RSM-45 R-31 was a Soviet SLBM missile.Development for the missile began in the early 1970s. It was fitted on only one Yankee II class submarine, originally for evaluation purposes. A first test flight took place from the Yankee II Class submarine K-140 in December 1976...
  
  NATO name SS-N-17 "Snipe" - decommissioned
- RSM-50 R-29R "Vysota", NATO name SS-N-18 "Stingray" - active
- RSM-52 R-39 "Rif", NATO name SS-N-20 "Sturgeon" - decommissioned
- RSM-54 R-29RM "Shtil", NATO name SS-N-23 "Skiff" - decommissioned (last ship is now under rebuild to R-29RMU "Sineva")
- RSM-54 R-29RMU "Sineva"
  R-29RMU Sineva
  The R-29RMU Sineva , also designated RSM-54,is a Russian liquid-fuelled submarine-launched ballistic missile. It has the GRAU index 3M27, and is identified by NATO as the SS-N-23 Skiff...
  
  , NATO name SS-N-23 "Skiff" - active
- RSM-56 R-30 "Bulava", NATO name SS-NX-32 - under development

United Kingdom

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

(U.S. supplied)

- UGM-27 Polaris and Chevaline
  Chevaline
  Chevaline was a system to improve the penetrability of the British Polaris missile warheads. Devised as an answer to the improved Soviet defences around Moscow, the system was intended to increase the probability that at least one warhead would penetrate the city's anti-ballistic missile defences,...
  
  - decommissioned
- UGM-133 Trident II (D5)
  UGM-133 Trident II
  UGM-133 Trident II, or Trident D5 is a submarine-launched ballistic missile, built by Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Sunnyvale, California, and deployed with the US Navy and Royal Navy. It was first deployed in 1990, and is still in service....
  
  - active

France

French Navy

The French Navy, officially the Marine nationale and often called La Royale is the maritime arm of the French military. It includes a full range of fighting vessels, from patrol boats to a nuclear powered aircraft carrier and 10 nuclear-powered submarines, four of which are capable of launching...

- M1 - decommissioned
- M2 - decommissioned
- M20 - decommissioned
- M4 - decommissioned
- M45 - active (replacing with M51 missile ongoing)
- M51 - active

People's Republic of China Navy

People's Liberation Army Navy

The People's Liberation Army Navy is the naval branch of the People's Liberation Army , the military of the People's Republic of China. Until the early 1990s, the navy performed a subordinate role to the PLA Land Forces. Since then, it has undergone rapid modernisation...

- JL-1
  JL-1
  The Julang-1, also known as the JL-1 and in US nomenclature as the CSS-N-3, is China's first submarine launched nuclear ballistic missile.-History:...
  
  - active
- JL-2
  JL-2
  The JL-2 is a Chinese second-generation intercontinental-range submarine-launched ballistic missile which has a two-stage, solid–liquid-fuelled propulsion design. Accurate specifications of the new missile are hard to obtain and substantiate due to the secretive nature of the program...
  
  - active

India

Indian Navy

The Indian Navy is the naval branch of the armed forces of India. The President of India serves as the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy. The Chief of Naval Staff , usually a four-star officer in the rank of Admiral, commands the Navy...

- K-15 - active
- K-4 - Testing
- K-5 - Under development

Types of ballistic-missile submarines

Specific types ballistic-missile submarine, which have included diesel-electric (SSBs) as well as nuclear-powered (SSBNs) units, include:
United States