The Submarine-launched ballistic missile reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Apr-2004 (provided by Fixed Reference: snapshots of Wikipedia from wikipedia.org)

Submarine-launched ballistic missile

Submarine-launched ballistic missiles or SLBM's 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. Early SLBM systems required vessels to be surfaced when they fired missiles, but launch systems were quickly adapted to allow underwater launching.

The ballistic missile submarines had great strategical importance for the USA and Soviet Union during the Cold War, as they could hide from satellite surveillance and fire their nuclear weapons without much warning, even close to the opponent's coast.

Specific types of SLBMs include:

• Polaris missile
• Poseidon missile
• Trident missile
• SS-N-17 "Snipe"
• SS-N-18 "Stingray", RSM-50
• R-39 missile, SS-N-20 "Sturgeon", RSM-52
• SS-N-23 "Skiff", RSM-54

Specific types of ballistic missile submarines include:

• Benjamin Franklin class submarine
• Ohio class submarine
• Resolution class submarine
• Additional Soviet ballistic missile submarines

See also: ICBM, nuclear warfare, nuclear strategy, submarine, submarine-launched missile

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