An
intercontinental ballistic missile, or
ICBM, is a long-range (greater than 5,500 km or 3,500 miles)
ballistic missileA 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...
typically designed for
nuclear weapons deliveryNuclear weapons delivery is the technology and systems used to place a nuclear weapon at the position of detonation, on or near its target. Several methods have been developed to carry out this task....
, that is, delivering one or more
nuclear warheadsA nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission or a combination of fission and fusion...
. Due to their great range and firepower, in an all-out
nuclear warNuclear warfare, or atomic warfare, is a military conflict or political strategy in which nuclear weapons are used. Compared to conventional warfare, nuclear warfare is vastly more destructive in range and extent of damage...
, submarine and land-based ICBMs would carry most of the destructive force, with nuclear-armed
bomberA bomber is a military aircraft designed to attack ground and sea targets, primarily by dropping bombs on them.-Classifications of bombers:...
s the remainder.
ICBMs are differentiated by having greater range and speed than other ballistic missiles:
intermediate-range ballistic missileAn intermediate-range ballistic missile is a ballistic missile with a range of 3,000-5,500 km , between a medium-range ballistic missile and an intercontinental ballistic missile...
s (IRBMs),
medium-range ballistic missileA medium-range ballistic missile , is a type of ballistic missile with medium range, this last classification depending on the standards of certain organizations. Within the U.S. Department of Defense, a medium range missile is defined by having a maximum range of between 1,000 and 3,000...
s (MRBMs),
short-range ballistic missileA short-range ballistic missile is a ballistic missile with a range of about 1,000 km or less. They are usually capable of carrying nuclear weapons. In potential regional conflicts, these missiles would be used because of the short distances between some countries and their relative low cost and...
s (SRBMs)—these shorter range ballistic missiles are known collectively as
theatre ballistic missileA theatre ballistic missile is any ballistic missile with a range between and , used against targets "in-theatre". Its range is thus between that of tactical and intercontinental ballistic missiles. The term is a relatively new one, encompassing the former categories of short-range ballistic...
s. Categorizing missiles by
range-In mathematics:* Range - Interval, the range between minimum and maximum* Range , the set of all output values produced by a function**Column space, the range space of a matrix...
is necessarily subjective and the boundaries are chosen somewhat arbitrarily.
World War II
The development of the world's first practical design for a ICBM, A9/10, intended for use in bombing
New YorkNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
and other American cities, was undertaken in
Nazi GermanyNazi Germany and the Third Reich are the common English names for Germany between 1933 and 1945, while it was led by Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Worker's Party . The name Third Reich refers to the state as the successor to the Holy Roman Empire of the Middle Ages and the German...
by the team of
Wernher von BraunWernher Magnus Maximilian Freiherr von Braun was a German American rocket physicist and astronautics engineer, becoming one of the leading figures in the development of rocket technology in Germany and the United States...
under
Projekt Amerika. The ICBM A9/A10 rocket initially was intended to be guided by radio, but was changed to be a piloted craft after the failure of Operation Elster. The second stage of the A9/A10 rocket was tested a few times in January and February 1945. The progenitor of the A9/A10 was the German
V-2 rocketAccording to head of Nazi rocket program Walter Dornberger, the V-2 rocket was the world's first ballistic missile and first human artifact to achieve sub-orbital spaceflight. It was the progenitor of all modern rockets...
, also designed by von Braun and widely used at the end of
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
to bomb British and Belgian cities. All of these rockets used liquid propellants. Following the war, von Braun and other leading German scientists were secretly transferred to the United States to work directly for the U.S. Army through
Operation PaperclipOperation Paperclip was the code name for the 1945 Office of Strategic Services, Joint Intelligence Objectives Agencyrecruitment of German scientists from Nazi Germany to the U.S...
, developing the IRBMs, ICBMs, and
launchersIn spaceflight, a launch vehicle or carrier rocket is a rocket used to carry a payload from the Earth's surface into outer space. A launch system includes the launch vehicle, the launch pad and other infrastructure....
.
Cold War
In 1953, the USSR initiated, under the direction of the
reactive propulsionA reaction engine is an engine which provides propulsion by expelling reaction mass, in accordance with Newton's third law of motion. This law of motion is most commonly paraphrased as: "For every action force there is an equal, but opposite, reaction force"....
engineerEngineers are concerned with developing economical and safe solutions to practical problems, by applying mathematics and scientific knowledge while considering technical constraints. The term is derived from the Latin root "ingenium," meaning "cleverness"...
Sergey KorolyovSergey Pavlovich Korolyov , , , was the head Soviet rocket engineer and designer during the Space Race between the United States and the Soviet Union in the 1950s and 1960s...
, a program to develop an ICBM. Korolyov had constructed the
R-1The R-1 rocket was a copy of the German V-2 rocket manufactured by the Soviet Union. Even though it was a copy, it was manufactured using Soviet industrial plants and gave the Soviets valuable experience which later enabled the USSR to construct its own much more capable rockets.In 1945 the...
, a copy of the V-2 based on some captured materials, but later developed his own distinct design. This rocket, the
R-7The R-7 Semyorka was the world's first true intercontinental ballistic missile and was deployed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War from 1959 to 1968. To the West it was known by the NATO reporting name SS-6 Sapwood and within the Soviet Union by the GRAU index 8K71...
, was successfully tested in August 1957 becoming the world's first ICBM and, on October 4, 1957, placed the first artificial satellite in space, Sputnik.
In the USA, competition between the U.S. armed services meant that each force developed its own ICBM program. The U.S. initiated ICBM research in 1946 with the MX-774. However, its funding was cancelled and only three partially successful launches in 1948, of an intermediate rocket, were ever conducted. In 1951, the U.S. began a new ICBM program called MX-774 and B-65 (later renamed Atlas). The U.S.' first successful ICBM, the 1.44-megaton Atlas D, was launched on July 29 1959, almost two years after the Soviet R-7 flight.
Military units with deployed ICBMs would first be fielded in 1959, in both the Soviet Union and the United States. The R-7 and Atlas each required a large launch facility, making them vulnerable to attack, and could not be kept in a ready state. The first US base to host ICBMs was
F. E. Warren Air Force BaseFrancis E. Warren Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located two miles west of the central business district of Cheyenne, in Laramie County, Wyoming, United States. It was named in honor of Francis E...
, in
WyomingWyoming is a state in the Western United States. The majority of the state is dominated by the mountain ranges and rangelands of the Rocky Mountain West, while the easternmost section of the state includes part of a high elevation prairie region known as the High Plains. While the tenth largest...
; the base hosts an ICBM and Heritage Museum.
These early ICBMs also formed the basis of many space launch systems. Examples include Atlas,
RedstoneThe Redstone family of rockets consisted of a number of missiles, sounding rockets and expendable launch systems. The first member of the family was the PGM-11 Redstone missile, from which all other members were derived...
,
TitanTitan was a family of U.S. expendable rockets used between 1959 and 2005. A total of 368 rockets of this family were launched.-Titan I:The Titan I was the first version of the Titan family of rockets. It began as a backup ICBM project in case the Atlas was delayed. It was a two-stage rocket...
, R-7, and Proton, which was derived from the earlier ICBMs but never deployed as an ICBM. The Eisenhower administration supported the development of solid-fueled missiles such as the
LGM-30 MinutemanThe LGM-30 Minuteman is an American nuclear missile, a land-based intercontinental ballistic missile . As of 2009, it is the only land-based ICBM in service in the United States...
,
PolarisThe Polaris missile was a two-stage solid-fuel nuclear-armed submarine-launched ballistic missile built during the Cold War by Lockheed Corporation of California for the United States Navy. It was designed to be used as part of the Navy's contribution to the United States arsenal of nuclear...
and Skybolt. Modern ICBMs tend to be smaller than their ancestors, due to increased accuracy and smaller and lighter warheads, and use solid fuels, making them less useful as orbital launch vehicles.
The Western view of the deployment of these systems was governed by the strategic theory of
Mutual Assured DestructionMutual assured destruction is a doctrine of military strategy in which a full-scale use of nuclear weapons by two opposing sides would effectively result in the destruction of both the attacker and the defender...
. In the 1950s and 1960s, development began on
Anti-Ballistic MissileAn anti-ballistic missile is a missile designed to counter ballistic missiles .A ballistic missile is used to deliver nuclear, chemical, biological or conventional warheads in a ballistic flight trajectory. The term "anti-ballistic missile" describes any antimissile system designed to counter...
systems by both the U.S. and USSR; these systems were restricted by the 1972
ABM treatyThe Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty was a treaty between the United States of America and the Soviet Union on the limitation of the anti-ballistic missile systems used in defending areas against missile-delivered nuclear weapons.Signed in 1972, it was in force for the next thirty years until the US...
. An alternative view is that the Soviet Union did not adhere to MAD theory and indeed planned to fight a war involving intense use of nuclear weapons; their avoidance of the development of anti-missile missile systems actually stemming from economic weakness.
The 1972
SALTThe Strategic Arms Limitation Talks refers to two rounds of bilateral talks and corresponding international treaties involving the United States and the Soviet Union-the Cold War superpowers—on the issue of armament control. There were two rounds of talks and agreements: SALT I and SALT II...
treaty froze the number of ICBM launchers of both the USA and the USSR at existing levels, and allowed new submarine-based
SLBMSubmarine-launched ballistic missile is a ballistic missile capable of delivering a nuclear warhead that can be launched from submarines. Modern variants usually deliver multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles each of which carries a warhead and allows a single launched missile to...
launchers only if an equal number of land-based ICBM launchers were dismantled. Subsequent talks, called SALT II, were held from 1972 to 1979 and actually reduced the number of nuclear warheads held by the USA and USSR. SALT II was never ratified by the
United States SenateThe United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral United States Congress, the lower house being the House of Representatives. The composition and powers of the Senate and the House are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution . Each U.S state is represented by two senators,...
, but its terms were nevertheless honored by both sides until 1986, when the Reagan administration "withdrew" after accusing the USSR of violating the pact.
In the 1980s, President
Ronald ReaganRonald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States and the 33rd Governor of California .Born in Tampico, Illinois, Reagan moved to Los Angeles, California in the 1930s...
launched the
Strategic Defense InitiativeThe Strategic Defense Initiative was a proposal by U.S. President Ronald Reagan on March 23, 1983 to use ground and space-based systems to protect the United States from attack by strategic nuclear ballistic missiles. The initiative focused on strategic defense rather than the prior strategic...
as well as the MX and
MidgetmanThe MGM-134A Midgetman, formally designated as the Small Intercontinental Ballistic Missile , was an intercontinental ballistic missile developed by the United States of America.-Overview:...
ICBM programmes.
Post-Cold War
In 1991, the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and the
Soviet UnionThe Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. The name is a translation of the , tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated СССР, SSSR. The common short name is Soviet Union, from , Sovetskiy Soyuz...
agreed in the
START ISTART is a treaty between the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on the Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms...
treaty to reduce their deployed ICBMs and attributed warheads.
, all five of the nations with permanent seats on the
United Nations Security CouncilThe United Nations Security Council is one of the principal organs of the United Nations and is charged with the maintenance of international peace and security. Its powers, outlined in the United Nations Charter, include the establishment of peacekeeping operations, the establishment of...
have operational ICBM systems: all have submarine-launched missiles, and
RussiaRussia , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia . It is a semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and
ChinaThe People's Republic of China , commonly known as China, is the largest country in East Asia and the most populous in the world with over 1.3 billion people, approximately one-fifth of the world's population...
also have land-based missiles. In addition,
RussiaRussia , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia . It is a semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
and
ChinaThe People's Republic of China , commonly known as China, is the largest country in East Asia and the most populous in the world with over 1.3 billion people, approximately one-fifth of the world's population...
have mobile land-based missiles.
IndiaIndia, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...
is reported to be developing a new variant of the Agni missile, called the Agni V, which is reported to have a strike range of more than 6,000 km.
It is speculated by some intelligence agencies that
North KoreaNorth Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea , is a state in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer area between North Korea and South Korea...
is developing an ICBM; two tests of somewhat different developmental missiles in 1998 and 2006 were not fully successful. On April 5, 2009, North Korea launched a missile. They claimed that it was to launch a satellite, but there is no proof to back up that claim.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7982874.stm
Most countries in the early stages of developing ICBMs have used liquid propellants, with the known exceptions being the planned South African RSA-4 ICBM and the now in service Israeli Jericho 3.
Flight phases
The following flight phases can be distinguished:
- boost phase
The boost phase is the portion of the flight of a ballistic missile or space vehicle during which the booster and sustainer engines operate until it reaches peak velocity. This phase can take 3 to 4 minutes , the altitude at the end of this phase is 150-200 km, and the typical burn-out speed is 7...
: 3 to 5 minutes (shorter for a solid rocketA solid rocket or a solid-fuel rocket is a rocket with a motor that uses solid propellants . The earliest rockets were solid-fueled and powered by gunpowder; they were used by the Chinese, Mongols and Arabs in warfare as early as the 13th century...
than for a liquid-propellant rocketThe highest specific impulse chemical rockets use liquid propellants. This type of propellent has a long history going back to the first rockets and is still in use in for example the Space Shuttle and Ariane 5.-Early development:...
); altitude at the end of this phase is typically 150 to 400 km depending on the trajectory chosen, typical burnout speed is 7 km/s.
- midcourse phase: approx. 25 minutes—sub-orbital spaceflight
A sub-orbital spaceflight is a spaceflight in which the spacecraft reaches space, but its trajectory intersects the atmosphere or surface of the gravitating body from which it was launched, so that it does not complete one orbital revolution....
in an elliptic orbitIn astrodynamics or celestial mechanics an elliptic orbit is a Kepler orbit with the eccentricity greater than 0 and less than 1. In a gravitational two-body problem with the eccentricity in this range both bodies follow similar elliptic orbits with the same orbital period around their common...
; the orbit is part of an ellipseIn mathematics, an ellipse is the bounded case of a conic section, the geometric shape that results from cutting a circular conical or cylindrical surface with an oblique plane...
with a vertical major axis; the apogee (halfway the midcourse phase) is at an altitude of approximately 1,200 km; the semi-major axisIn geometry, the semi-major axis is used to describe the dimensions of ellipses and hyperbolae.- Ellipse :The major axis of an ellipse is its longest diameter, a line that runs through the centre and both foci, its ends being at the widest points of the shape...
is between 3,186 km and 6,372 km; the projection of the orbit on the Earth's surface is close to a great circleA great circle of a sphere is a circle that runs along the surface of that sphere so as to cut it into two equal halves, as distinct from a small circle. The great circle therefore has both the same circumference and the same center as the sphere...
, slightly displaced due to earth rotation during the time of flight; the missile may release several independent warheads, and penetration aidA penetration aid is a device or tactic used to increase an intercontinental ballistic missile warhead's chances of penetrating a target's defenses...
s such as metallic-coated balloons, aluminum chaffChaff, originally called Window by the British, and Düppel by the World War II era German Luftwaffe, is a radar countermeasure in which aircraft or other targets spread a cloud of small, thin pieces of aluminium, metallised glass fibre or plastic, which either appears as a cluster of secondary...
, and full-scale warhead decoyA decoy is usually a person, device or event meant as a distraction to conceal what an individual or a group might be looking for. Decoys have been used for centuries most notably in game hunting, but also in wartime and in the committing or resolving of crimes.The decoy in war may for example be a...
s.
- reentry
Atmospheric reentry refers to the movement of human-made or natural objects as they enter the atmosphere of a planet from outer space, in the case of Earth from an altitude above the "edge of space." This article primarily addresses the process of controlled reentry of vehicles which are intended...
phase (starting at an altitude of 100 km): 2 minutes—impact is at a speed of up to 4 km/s (for early ICBMs less than 1 km/s); see also maneuverable reentry vehicleThe maneuverable reentry vehicle is a type of nuclear warhead capable of shifting targets in flight. Refer to atmospheric reentry.There are several types, of which examples include:...
.
Modern ICBMs
Modern ICBMs typically carry
multiple independently targetable reentry vehicleA 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 separate
nuclearA nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission or a combination of fission and fusion...
warhead, allowing a single missile to hit multiple targets. MIRV was an outgrowth of the rapidly shrinking size and weight of modern warheads and the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaties which imposed limitations on the number of launch vehicles (SALT I and SALT II). It has also proved to be an "easy answer" to proposed deployments of
ABMAn anti-ballistic missile is a missile designed to counter ballistic missiles .A ballistic missile is used to deliver nuclear, chemical, biological or conventional warheads in a ballistic flight trajectory. The term "anti-ballistic missile" describes any antimissile system designed to counter...
systems—it is far less expensive to add more warheads to an existing missile system than to build an ABM system capable of shooting down the additional warheads; hence, most ABM system proposals have been judged to be impractical. The first operational ABM systems were deployed in the U.S. during 1970s.
Safeguard ABMThe Safeguard Program was a United States Army anti-ballistic missile system developed during the late 1960s. Safeguard was designed to protect U.S. ICBM missile sites from counterforce attack, thus preserving the option of an unimpeded retaliatory strike. Safeguard used much of the same technology...
facility was located in North Dakota and was operational from 1975–1976. The USSR deployed its Galosh ABM system around Moscow in the 1970s, which remains in service. Israel deployed a national ABM system based on the Arrow missile in 1998, but it is mainly designed to intercept shorter-ranged theater ballistic missiles, not ICBMs. The U.S. Alaska-based
National missile defenseNational missile defense as a generic term is a type of missile defense: a military strategy and associated systems to shield an entire country against incoming Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles . The missiles could be intercepted by other missiles, or possibly by lasers...
system attained initial operational capability in 2004.
ICBMs can be deployed from multiple platforms:
- in missile silo
A missile silo is an underground, vertical cylindrical container for the storage and launching of intercontinental ballistic missiles . They typically have the missile some distance under the surface, protected by a large "blast door" on top....
s, which offer some protection from military attack (including, the designers hope, some protection from a nuclear first strikeIn 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...
)
- on submarine
A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has only limited underwater capability...
s: submarine-launched ballistic missileSubmarine-launched ballistic missile is a ballistic missile capable of delivering a nuclear warhead that can be launched from submarines. Modern variants usually deliver multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles each of which carries a warhead and allows a single launched missile to...
s (SLBMs); most or all SLBMs have the long range of ICBMs (as opposed to IRBMs)
- on heavy trucks; this applies to one version of the RT-2UTTH Topol M
The RT-2UTTKh «Topol-M» is one of the most recent intercontinental ballistic missiles to be deployed by Russia , and the first to be developed after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.In its Russian designation РТ stands for "ракета твердотопливная," Raketa...
which may be deployed from a self-propelled mobile launcherA mobile launcher vehicle is a type of military vehicle on a multi-wheel-drive or crawler-tread chassis carrying one or more ground-to-ground or ground-to-air explosive missiles, along with the personnel and equipment needed to prepare, organize, and execute a launch of such missiles.Purpose of...
, capable of moving through roadless terrain, and launching a missile from any point along its route
- mobile launchers on rails; this applies, for example, to РТ-23УТТХ "Молодец" (RT-23UTTH "Molodets"
The RT-23 was a Soviet ICBM developed and produced by the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau before 1991. It is cold launched, and comes in silo and railway car based variants...
—SS-24 "Sсаlреl")
The last three kinds are mobile and therefore hard to find.
During storage, one of the most important features of the missile is its serviceability. One of the key features of the first
computer-controlledAn embedded system is a computer system designed to perform one or a few dedicated functions , often with real-time computing constraints. It is embedded as part of a complete device often including hardware and mechanical parts. In contrast, a general-purpose computer, such as a personal...
ICBM, the Minuteman missile, was that it could quickly and easily use its computer to test itself.
In flight, a booster pushes the warhead and then falls away. Most modern boosters are
solid-fueled rocket motorsA solid rocket or a solid-fuel rocket is a rocket with a motor that uses solid propellants . The earliest rockets were solid-fueled and powered by gunpowder; they were used by the Chinese, Mongols and Arabs in warfare as early as the 13th century...
, which can be stored easily for long periods of time. Early missiles used
liquid-fueled rocket motorsA liquid-fuel rocket or a liquid rocket is a rocket with an engine that uses propellants in liquid form. Liquids are desirable because their reasonably high density allows the volume and hence the mass of the tanks to be relatively low, resulting in a high mass ratio...
. Many liquid-fueled ICBMs could not be kept fuelled all the time as the cryogenic liquid oxygen boiled off and caused ice formation, and therefore fueling the rocket was necessary before launch. This procedure was a source of significant operational delay, and might allow the missiles to be destroyed by enemy counterparts before they could be used. To resolve this problem the British invented the
missile siloA missile silo is an underground, vertical cylindrical container for the storage and launching of intercontinental ballistic missiles . They typically have the missile some distance under the surface, protected by a large "blast door" on top....
that protected the missile from a
first strikeIn 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...
and also hid fuelling operations underground.
Once the booster falls away, the warhead continues on an unpowered ballistic trajectory, much like an artillery shell or cannon ball. The warhead is encased in a cone-shaped reentry vehicle and is difficult to detect in this phase of flight as there is no rocket exhaust or other emissions to mark its position to defenders. The high speeds of the warheads make them difficult to intercept and allow for little warning striking targets anywhere in the world within minutes.
Many authorities say that missiles also release aluminized balloons, electronic noisemakers, and other items intended to confuse interception devices and radars (see
penetration aidA penetration aid is a device or tactic used to increase an intercontinental ballistic missile warhead's chances of penetrating a target's defenses...
).
As the nuclear warhead reenters the Earth's atmosphere its high speed causes friction with the air, leading to a dramatic rise in temperature which would destroy it if it were not shielded in some way. As a result, warhead components are contained within an
aluminiumAluminium or aluminum is a silvery white and ductile member of the boron group of chemical elements. It has the symbol Al; its atomic number is 13. It is not soluble in water under normal circumstances....
honeycomb substructure, sheathed in pyrolytic graphite-epoxy resin composite, with a heat-shield layer on top which is constructed out of
3-Dimensional Quartz Phenolic3-Dimensional Quartz Phenolic is a phenolic-based material composed of a quartz cloth material woven into a seamless sock shape cloth impregnated with a phenolic resin and hot-pressed. When cured, 3DQP can be machined in the same way as metals and is tough and fire-resistant...
.
Accuracy is crucial, because doubling the accuracy decreases the needed warhead energy by a factor of four. Accuracy is limited by the accuracy of the navigation system and the available geophysical information.
Strategic missile systems are thought to use custom
integrated circuitIn electronics, an integrated circuit is a miniaturized electronic circuit that has been manufactured in the surface of a thin substrate of semiconductor material...
s designed to calculate
navigationNavigation is the process of reading, and controlling the movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another. It is also the term of art used for the specialized knowledge used by navigators to perform navigation tasks. The word navigate is derived from the Latin "navigare", meaning "to sail"...
al
differential equationA differential equation is a mathematical equation for an unknown function of one or several variables that relates the values of the function itself and its derivatives of various orders...
s thousands to millions of times per second in order to reduce navigational errors caused by calculation alone. These circuits are usually a network of binary addition circuits that continually recalculate the missile's position. The inputs to the navigation circuit are set by a general purpose computer according to a navigational input schedule loaded into the missile before launch.
One particular weapon developed by the Soviet Union (FOBS) had a partial
orbitIn physics, an orbit is the gravitationally curved path of one object around a point or another body, for example the gravitational orbit of a planet around a star....
al trajectory, and unlike most ICBMs its target could not be deduced from its orbital flight path. It was decommissioned in compliance with arms control agreements, which address the maximum range of ICBMs and prohibit orbital or fractional-orbital weapons.
Low-flying guided
cruise missileA cruise missile is a guided missile that carries an explosive payload and uses a lifting wing and a propulsion system, usually a jet engine, to allow sustained flight; it is essentially a flying bomb. Cruise missiles are generally designed to carry a large conventional or nuclear warhead many...
s are an alternative to
ballistic missileA 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...
s.
Land-based ICBMs
The U.S. Air Force currently operates 450 ICBMs around three air force bases located primarily in the northern Rocky Mountain states and North Dakota. These are of the
LGM-30 MinutemanThe LGM-30 Minuteman is an American nuclear missile, a land-based intercontinental ballistic missile . As of 2009, it is the only land-based ICBM in service in the United States...
III ICBM variant only. Peacekeeper missiles were phased out in 2005.
All USAF Minuteman II missiles have been destroyed in accordance with START, and their launch silos have been sealed or sold to the public. To comply with the
START IISTART II, the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, which was signed by United States President George H. W. Bush and Russian President Boris Yeltsin on January 3, 1993, banned the use of MIRVs on ICBMs and is hence often cited as the De-MIRV-ing Agreement.MIRVed land-based ICBMs are considered...
most U.S. multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles, or MIRVs, have been eliminated and replaced with single warhead missiles. However, since the abandonment of the START II treaty, the U.S. is said to be considering retaining 800 warheads on 450 missiles.
MIRVed land-based ICBMs are considered destabilizing because they tend to put a premium on striking first. If we assume that each side has 100 missiles, with five warheads each, and further that each side has a 95 percent chance of neutralizing the opponent's missiles in their silos by firing two warheads at each silo, then the side that strikes first can reduce the enemy ICBM force from 100 missiles to about five by firing 40 missiles at the enemy silos and using the remaining 60 for other targets. This first-strike strategy increases the chance of a nuclear war, so the MIRV weapon system was banned under the
START IISTART II, the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, which was signed by United States President George H. W. Bush and Russian President Boris Yeltsin on January 3, 1993, banned the use of MIRVs on ICBMs and is hence often cited as the De-MIRV-ing Agreement.MIRVed land-based ICBMs are considered...
agreement.
The United States Air Force awards two badges for performing duty in a nuclear missile silo or Launch Control Center (LCC). The
Missile BadgeThe Missile Badge is a military decoration of the United States Air Force which was first created in the 1960s. The badge recognizes those commissioned officers and enlisted personnel of the US Air Force who have qualified as ICBM silo personnel and have been trained in the launching of landbased...
is presented to enlisted and commissioned maintainers while the
Space and Missile PinThe Space Operations Badge was a military badge of the United States Air Force which was awarded to those personnel who completed training in space warning, satellite command and control, missile operations, space surveillance, or space lift...
is awarded to commissioned Officer operators after completed training and full certification.
Soviet Union Soviet UnionThe Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. The name is a translation of the , tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated СССР, SSSR. The common short name is Soviet Union, from , Sovetskiy Soyuz...
/ Russia RussiaRussia , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia . It is a semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
Specific types of Soviet ICBMs include:
- R7
The R-7 Semyorka was the world's first true intercontinental ballistic missile and was deployed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War from 1959 to 1968. To the West it was known by the NATO reporting name SS-6 Sapwood and within the Soviet Union by the GRAU index 8K71...
Semyorka / 8K71 / SS-6 Sapwood: Rocket first used to launch Sputnik 1Sputnik 1 was the first Earth-orbiting artificial satellite. It was launched into an elliptical low earth orbit by the Soviet Union on 4 October 1957, and was the first in a series of satellites collectively known as the Sputnik program...
in OctoberOctober is the tenth month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of seven Gregorian months with a length of 31 days. The eighth month in the old Roman calendar, October retained its name after July and August, after Julius and Augustus Caesar respectively; when the calendar was originally...
, 1957. Derivatives are still in use today, primarily as the Soyuz rocketThe Soyuz was a Soviet expendable carrier rocket designed by OKB-1 and manufactured by State Aviation Plant No. 1 in Samara, Russia...
for manned SoyuzSoyuz is Russian for "Union", and was often used as an abbreviation for the "Union of Soviet Socialist Republics" during the Communist era. In English, the term is left untranslated in the names of several Soviet-related concepts...
and Progress spacecraft launches to the International Space StationThe International Space Station is an internationally developed research facility currently being assembled in Low Earth Orbit. On-orbit construction of the station began in 1998 and is scheduled to be completed by 2011, with operations continuing until at least 2015...
- R-16 SS-7 Saddler
- R-9 Desna
The R-9 was a two stage ICBM of the Soviet Union.Designed in 1959 and first tested in 1961, the R-9 was a great improvement over previous Soviet missile designs...
/ SS-8 Sasin
- R-36 SS-9 Scarp
- R-36M2 Voevoda / SS-18 Satan
- UR-100
The UR-100 was an intercontinental ballistic missile developed and deployed by the Soviet Union from 1966 to 1996. УР in its designation stands for "универсальная ракета"...
8K84 / SS-11 Sego
- MR-UR-100 Sotka
The MR-UR-100 Sotka was a MIRV-warhead intercontinental ballistic missile developed and deployed by the Soviet Union from 1978 to 1993. The missile was given the NATO reporting name SS-17 Spanker and was built under the Soviet industry designation 15A15...
/ 15A15/ SS-17 Spanker
- UR-100N
The UR-100N is an intercontinental ballistic missile in service with soviet and russian Strategic Rocket Forces. The missile was given the NATO reporting name SS-19 Stiletto and carries the industry designation 15A30....
15A30 / SS-19 Stiletto
- RT-2
The RT-2 was an intercontinental ballistic missile deployed by the Soviet Union from 1969 through 1996. It was assigned the NATO reporting name SS-13 Savage and carried the industry designation 8K98. It was probably designed by the V.N...
8K98 / SS-13 Savage
- RT-23 Molodets
The RT-23 was a Soviet ICBM developed and produced by the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau before 1991. It is cold launched, and comes in silo and railway car based variants...
/ SS-24 Scalpel
- RT-2PM Topol
The RT-2PM Topol is a mobile intercontinental ballistic missile designed in the Soviet Union and in service with Russia's Strategic Rocket Forces.- Development :The three stage solid propellant RT-2PM Topol became the first Soviet mobile ICBM to be successfully...
/ 15Zh58 / SS-25 Sickle
- RT-2UTTKh
The RT-2UTTKh «Topol-M» is one of the most recent intercontinental ballistic missiles to be deployed by Russia , and the first to be developed after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.In its Russian designation РТ stands for "ракета твердотопливная," Raketa...
Topol M / SS-27
- RS-24
The RS-24 is a Russian MIRV-equipped, thermonuclear intercontinental ballistic missile first tested on May 29, 2007 after a secret military R&D project, to replace the older R-36 and UR-100N until 2050...
: MIRV-equipped. Expected to service in December 2009.
USA United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
- Atlas (SM-65, CGM-16): Former ICBM launched from silo, the rocket was modified and used in 1962-1963 for four manned Mercury-Atlas
Mercury-Atlas was a subprogram of Project Mercury which comprised most of the flights and tests using the Atlas LV-3B launch vehicle. The Atlas was also used for one Mercury flight under the Big Joe subprogram.- Mission Numbering :...
flights, and was used, along with the Agena or Centaur upper stages, as a medium-lift satellite and interplanetary probe launcher for NASA and the USAF. Original design, with "balloon tanks" and "1.5 staging," has since been retired and replaced with the Atlas VAtlas V is an active expendable launch system in the Atlas rocket family. Atlas V was formerly operated by Lockheed Martin, and is now operated by the Lockheed Martin-Boeing joint venture United Launch Alliance...
, which has an internal structure similar to the Titan ICBM, but using conventional propellants.
- Titan I (SM-68, HGM-25A): Based in underground launch complexes. Used LOX/RP-1 propellants like Atlas, but stored in conventional tanks.
- Titan II (SM-68B, LGM-25C): Former hypergolic-fueled ICBM launched from silo, the rocket was used in 1965-1966 for ten manned Gemini
Project Gemini was the second human spaceflight program of NASA, the civilian space agency of the United States government. Project Gemini operated between Projects Mercury and Apollo, with 10 manned flights occurring in 1965 and 1966...
flights and its two-stage core was modified into the heavy-lifting Titan IIIThe Titan IIIC was a space booster used by the United States Air Force. It was launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL., and Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA. It was planned to be used as a launch vehicle in the cancelled Dyna-Soar and Manned Orbiting Laboratory programs...
and Titan IVThe Titan IV family of space boosters were used by the U.S. Air Force. They were launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, and Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. At the time of its introduction, the Titan IV was the "largest unmanned space booster used by the Air Force."The...
rockets. All Titan II, III, and IV models have since been retired.
- Minuteman I (SM-80, LGM-30A/B, HSM-80)
- Minuteman II (LGM-30F)
- Minuteman III (LGM-30G): launched from silo—as of May 2009, there are 450 Minuteman
The LGM-30 Minuteman is an American nuclear missile, a land-based intercontinental ballistic missile . As of 2009, it is the only land-based ICBM in service in the United States...
III missiles in active inventory
- LGM-118 Peacekeeper / MX (LGM-118A): silo-based; decommissioned in May 2006
- Midgetman
The MGM-134A Midgetman, formally designated as the Small Intercontinental Ballistic Missile , was an intercontinental ballistic missile developed by the United States of America.-Overview:...
: prototype only and has never been operational — launched from mobile launcher
- Trident (UGM-93A/B) SLBM: Trident II
The 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 Royal Navy and US Navy...
(D5) was first deployed in 1990 and is planned to be deployed past 2020.
China People's Republic of ChinaThe People's Republic of China , commonly known as China, is the largest country in East Asia and the most populous in the world with over 1.3 billion people, approximately one-fifth of the world's population...
Specific types of Chinese ICBMs called Dong Feng ("East Wind").
- DF-4 (CSS-3): silo based and semimobile, 5,550–7,000 km range.
- DF-5
The Dongfeng 5 or DF-5 is a 3 stage Chinese ICBM. It has a length 32.6 m and a diameter of 3.35 m. It weighs in at 183,000 kilograms and it has an estimated range of 12,000 to 15,000 kilometers. The DF-5 had its first flight in 1971 and was in operational service 10 years later...
(CSS-4) (1981–present): silo based, 12,000 km range.
- DF-5A
The Dongfeng 5 or DF-5 is a 3 stage Chinese ICBM. It has a length 32.6 m and a diameter of 3.35 m. It weighs in at 183,000 kilograms and it has an estimated range of 12,000 to 15,000 kilometers. The DF-5 had its first flight in 1971 and was in operational service 10 years later...
(CSS-4) (16 December 1986 – present): silo based, 15,000+ km range.
- DF-31
The Dong Feng 31 is a long-range, three stage, solid propellant intercontinental ballistic missile in the Dongfeng missile series developed by the People's Republic of China. It is a land-based variant of the submarine launched JL-2...
(CSS-9): silo and road mobile, 7,200+ km range.
- Railroad-based DF-31: railroad mobile, 7,200+ km range.
- DF-31A (CSS-9 Mod-2): silo and road mobile, MIRV equipped, 11,200+ km range.
- 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...
(CSS-NX-4): SSBN-based, ~8000 km range.
- DF-41
DF-41 , is a type of solid-fueled intercontinental ballistic missile currently under development by the People's Republic of China ....
(CSS-X-10): silo and road mobile, MIRV equipped (up to 10), under development, 15,000+ km range.
UK United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
The United Kingdom only deploys United States constructed submarine launched ICBMs. The UK contributes towards the development of the U.S. constructed missiles which it uses.
Trident IIThe 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 Royal Navy and US Navy...
(D5): SLBM currently used by the
Royal NavyThe Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of HM Armed Forces . From the beginning of the 18th century until well into the 20th century, it was the most powerful navy in the world, playing a key part in establishing the British Empire as the dominant world power from 1815 until the early...
and planned to be deployed until the 2050s.
France FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
France only deploys submarine launched ICBMs, with all land based ones decommissioned
- M45
The M45 SLBM is the current standard French Navy's submarine launched ballistic missile The M45 SLBM is the current standard French Navy's submarine launched ballistic missile The M45 SLBM is the current standard French Navy's submarine launched ballistic missile (In French terminology the MSBS -...
: In service.
- M51.1
The M51 SLBM is the French Navy's future submarine launched ballistic missile, designed to replace the M45 SLBM ....
: Expected to enter service in 2010.
- M51.2
The M51 SLBM is the French Navy's future submarine launched ballistic missile, designed to replace the M45 SLBM ....
: Expected to enter service in 2015.
Israel IsraelIsrael officially the State of Israel , is a developed state in Western Asia located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its...
- Jericho II: capable of sending a one ton nuclear payload 5,000 kilometers. capable of being modified to carry one nuclear warhead that is no heavier than 500 kg over 7,800 km.
- Jericho III: believed to have a range of up to 11,500 km with 1–1.3 ton payload. Entered service in 2008.
North Korea North KoreaNorth Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea , is a state in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer area between North Korea and South Korea...
North KoreaNorth Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea , is a state in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer area between North Korea and South Korea...
currently does not have any ICBM in its inventory.
- Taepodong-2
The Taepodong-2 , is a designation used to indicate a North Korean two or three-stage ballistic missile design that is the successor to the Taepodong-1.-Details:...
(4,000–9,000 km range, failed test in 2006)
India IndiaIndia, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...
IndiaIndia, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...
currently does not have any ICBM in its inventory.
- Agni 3SL (SLBM): 5200 km @ 1,400 kg and 11,600 km @ 700 kg
- Agni V
- Agni V SLBM
- Surya-I
- Surya-II
Sea-based ICBMs
The
U.S. NavyThe United States Navy is the sea branch of the U.S. Armed Forces. It is one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. As of 31 December 2008, the U.S. Navy had about 331,682 personnel on active duty and 124,000 in the Navy Reserve. It operates 283 ships in active service and more than...
currently has 18
Ohio-classThe Ohio class is a class of nuclear-powered submarines used by the United States Navy. The United States has 18 Ohio class submarines:...
SSBNA 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 deployed, of which 14 are armed with 24 Trident II SLBMs each, for a total of 288 Trident II missiles equipped with 1152
MIRVA 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...
nuclear warheads.
The
Russian NavyThe Russian Navy or VMF is the naval arm of the Russian Armed Forces. The international designation of Russian naval vessels is RFS—"Russian Federation Ship"....
currently has 12
SSBNA 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 deployed, including 5 Delta III class submarines, 6 Delta IV class submarines and 1
Typhoon class submarineThe Typhoon class submarine is a type of nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine deployed by the Soviet Navy in the 1980s. With a maximum displacement of 33,800 tons, the Typhoons are the largest class of submarine ever built, large to accommodate decent living faculities for the crew, when the...
. Missiles include R-29R SLBMs and
R-29RMU SinevaThe 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. It is designed to be launched from Delta IV class submarines, which will be armed with 16 missiles each.It can...
SLBMs with
MIRVA 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...
warheads for a total of 181 missiles equipped with 639 nuclear warheads. The
Borei classThe Borei class , also known as the Dolgorukiy class, is a ship class of nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine produced and operated by Russian Navy. The class is intended to replace the Delta III and Typhoon classes now in Russian Navy service...
SSBNs and
BulavaThe "Bulava" is a submarine-launched ballistic missile under development in Russia. The Moscow Institute of Thermal Technology is chiefly responsible for the missile's design. Bulava carries the NATO reporting name SS-NX-30 and has been assigned the GRAU index 3M30...
SLBMs are under development.
The
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
's
Royal NavyThe Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of HM Armed Forces . From the beginning of the 18th century until well into the 20th century, it was the most powerful navy in the world, playing a key part in establishing the British Empire as the dominant world power from 1815 until the early...
has four
Vanguard classThe Vanguard class are the Royal Navy's current nuclear ballistic missile submarines , each armed with up to 16 Trident II Submarine-launched ballistic missiles...
SSBNA 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, each armed with 16 Trident II SLBMs with
MIRVA 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...
warheads for a total of 64 Trident II missiles and 185 nuclear warheads.
The
French NavyThe French Navy, officially the Marine nationale and often called La Royale is the maritime arm of the French military...
has four
le Triomphant classThe Triomphant class of strategic missile submarines of the French Navy are currently being introduced into service to provide the sea based component of the French 'force de frappe' , with the M45 SLBM.-SNLE-NG:In French, they are called Sous-Marin Nucléaire Lanceur d'Engins de Nouvelle...
SSBNA 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 each armed with 16
M45The M45 SLBM is the current standard French Navy's submarine launched ballistic missile The M45 SLBM is the current standard French Navy's submarine launched ballistic missile The M45 SLBM is the current standard French Navy's submarine launched ballistic missile (In French terminology the MSBS -...
s SLBMs with TN75
MIRVA 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...
nuclear warheads. The M45 SLBMs are scheduled to be upgraded to
M51The M51 SLBM is the French Navy's future submarine launched ballistic missile, designed to replace the M45 SLBM ....
SLBMs around 2010.
The
People's Republic of ChinaThe People's Republic of China , commonly known as China, is the largest country in East Asia and the most populous in the world with over 1.3 billion people, approximately one-fifth of the world's population...
's
People's Liberation Army NavyThe 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...
has two
Type 094The Type 094 is a new class of ballistic missile submarine developed by the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy. The first-of-class was constructed at Huludao Shipyard in Huludao, Liaoning Province and launched in July 2004...
SSBNA 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 each armed with 12
JL-2The 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...
SLBMs, which are expected to be deployed by 2010.
See also
- United States and weapons of mass destruction
The United States is known to have possessed three types of weapons of mass destruction: nuclear weapons, chemical weapons and biological weapons. The U.S. is the only country to have used nuclear weapons in combat. The U.S. also used chemical weapons in World War I, and in Vietnam. According to...
- Russia and weapons of mass destruction
Russia possesses one of the largest stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction in the world. The country declared an arsenal of 28,000 tons of chemical weapons in 2008. According to the Nuclear Notebook Russia had 5,200 nuclear weapons deployed in early 2008, making its stockpile the largest in the...
- United Kingdom and weapons of mass destruction
The United Kingdom has possessed weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons. The United Kingdom is one of the five official nuclear weapon states under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and has an independent nuclear deterrent. The U.K...
- France and weapons of mass destruction
France is known to have an arsenal of weapons of mass destruction. France is one of the five "Nuclear Weapons States" under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty; but is not known to possess or develop any chemical or biological weapons. France was the fourth country to test an independently...
- People's Republic of China and weapons of mass destruction
- India and weapons of mass destruction
India possesses an arsenal of nuclear weapons and maintains short- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles, nuclear-capable aircraft, surface ships, and submarines under development as possible delivery systems and platforms...
- Israel and weapons of mass destruction
Israel is widely believed to possess weapons of mass destruction, and to be one of four nuclear-armed countries not recognized as a Nuclear Weapons State by the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty...
- Pakistan and weapons of mass destruction
Pakistan began focusing on nuclear development in January 1972 under the leadership of Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, who delegated the program to nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan and military administrator Zahid Ali Akbar. This program would reach fruition under President Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq...
- SLBM
- Anti-ballistic missile
An anti-ballistic missile is a missile designed to counter ballistic missiles .A ballistic missile is used to deliver nuclear, chemical, biological or conventional warheads in a ballistic flight trajectory. The term "anti-ballistic missile" describes any antimissile system designed to counter...
- Heavy ICBM
Heavy ICBM is a term that was created in the 1970s to describe a class of Soviet ICBMs . They were characterized by a heavy throw-weight of 5 to 9 metric tons and a length of over 35 meters, and were thus capable of delivering a large number of warheads in a single MIRV missile.This term usually...
- Throw-weight
Throw-weight is a measure of the effective weight of ballistic missile payloads. It is measured in kilograms or metric tons. Throw-weight equals the total weight of a missile's warheads, reentry vehicles, self-contained dispensing mechanisms, penetration aids, and guidance systems — generally all...
- Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty
The Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty was a treaty between the United States of America and the Soviet Union on the limitation of the anti-ballistic missile systems used in defending areas against missile-delivered nuclear weapons.Signed in 1972, it was in force for the next thirty years until the US...
- Atmospheric reentry
Atmospheric reentry refers to the movement of human-made or natural objects as they enter the atmosphere of a planet from outer space, in the case of Earth from an altitude above the "edge of space." This article primarily addresses the process of controlled reentry of vehicles which are intended...
- Nuclear disarmament
Nuclear disarmament refers to both the act of reducing or eliminating nuclear weapons and to the end state of a nuclear-free world, in which nuclear weapons are completely eliminated....
- Nuclear navy
Nuclear navy, or nuclear powered navy consists of ships powered by relatively small onboard nuclear reactors known as naval reactors. The concept was revolutionary for naval warfare when first proposed, as it meant that these vessels did not need to stop for fuel like their conventional...
- Nuclear warfare
Nuclear warfare, or atomic warfare, is a military conflict or political strategy in which nuclear weapons are used. Compared to conventional warfare, nuclear warfare is vastly more destructive in range and extent of damage...
- 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...
- Force de frappe
The force de frappe is the designation of what used to be a triad of air-, sea- and land-based French Nuclear Forces, part of the military of France. France has the third largest nuclear force in the world, after Russia and the United States...
- submarine
A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has only limited underwater capability...
- Fractional Orbital Bombardment System
The Fractional Orbital Bombardment System was a Soviet ICBM program in the 1960s that after launch would go into a low Earth orbit and would then de-orbit for an attack. It had no range limit and the orbital flight path would not reveal the target location...
- Air Force Space Command
Air Force Space Command is a major command of the United States Air Force. AFSPC is headquartered at Peterson Air Force Base Colorado. Its current commander is General C. Robert "Bob" Kehler....
- Missile Defense Agency
The Missile Defense Agency is the section of the United States government's Department of Defense responsible for developing a layered defense against ballistic missiles...
- Countermeasure
A countermeasure is a system designed to prevent sensor-based weapons from acquiring and/or destroying a target....
- Dense Pack
External links