Hassan Guy
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The Gods of M.A.D.ness
World survey of nuclear missile submarines
The dynamics of at-sea nuclear deterrence have completely changed since the end of the Cold War. In those 25 years the total number of active ballistic missile submarines has more than halved. In 1991 the US Navy operated 33 ballistic missile submarines; today it operates just 14. Russian meanwhile has gone from 62 down to just 12, or 13 if you count the last TYPHOON Class which is still used for trials. The United Kingdom and France maintain the absolute minimum at-sea deterrent with just four submarines apiece.
The US and UK are starting down the road to build their next generation of ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs), more commonly known as ‘boomers’ or ‘bombers’ to the Brits. The US Navy’s Ohio Replacement Program (SSBN[X]) is estimated to end up costing $97bn for 12 boats, while Britain’s Successor program is costed at $44Bn for 4 boats. The waters these boats will slip into will be very different from those that their forbearers did.
Meanwhile China has continued to grow its capability, and three countries have entered the arena; Israel, India and North Korea. Additionally, Russia is developing KANYON which is a whole new class of at-sea deterrent based on a nuclear powered torpedo.
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) countries:
US: 7,100 nuclear warheads carried by ground based ICBMs, aircraft and SSBNs.
Russia: Estimated 7,700 nuclear warheads carried by ground based ICBMs, aircraft and SSBNs. Currently developing a unique torpedo based at-sea deterrent (KANYON).
UK: Stockpile reduced to 225 warheads, carried exclusively by SSBNs. Current plans are to reduce the stockpile further to just 180 warheads by the mid-2020s.
France: Stockpile reduced to less than 300 warheads, deployed via both the air force and SSBNs. Land based systems withdrawn. SLBMs de-targeted and alert statuses reduced.
China: Estimated stockpile of 260 warheads, but increasing. Deployed by Land based ICBMs, aircraft and SSBNs.
Defacto nuclear states (Non-NPT countries):
India: Estimated arsenal of 90-110 nuclear warheads, mostly deployed on land based ballistic missiles.
Israel:. An undeclared nuclear state, Israel keeps its nuclear capabilities behind a veil of ambiguity. There is no serious doubt -that it has the weapons and even its allies count it as a nuclear state. It is estimated to have a stockpile of 80-100 warheads, some of which may be deployed on submarines.
North Korea: The DPRK (Democratic Peoples’ Republic of Korea) is currently viewed as a nuclear capable state rather than a nuclear weapons state, and has a small but developing capability with an estimated 6-8 warheads. A program to build nuclear armed submarines is underway based largely on vintage Russian technology.
(Dis)honorary mentions:
Pakistan: has an estimated 100-120 warheads but there are no solid reports of any submarine based deployment system.
http://www.hisutton.com/Nuclear Missile Submarines.html
