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The MIRV U.S. Peacekeeper missile, with the re-entry vehicles highlighted in red. Technicians secure a number of Mk12A re-entry vehicles on a Peacekeeper MIRV bus. LGM-118A Peacekeeper MIRV at the National Museum of the United States Air Force. A Trident II missile, operated exclusively by the US Navy and Royal Navy. Each missile can carry up ...
The Trident missile is a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) equipped with multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRV). Originally developed by Lockheed Missiles and Space Corporation, the missile is armed with thermonuclear warheads and is launched from nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs).
The missile could carry up to eleven Mark 21 reentry vehicles (although treaties limited its actual payload to ten), each armed with a 300-kiloton W87 warhead. Initial plans called for building and deploying 100 MX ICBMs, but budgetary concerns limited the final procurement; only 50 entered service.
Missiles include R-29R SLBMs, R-29RMU Sineva / R-29RMU2 Liner SLBMs with MIRV warheads and Bulava SLBMs with MIRV warheads. The United Kingdom's Royal Navy has four Vanguard -class SSBNs , each armed with 16 Trident II SLBMs with MIRV warheads for a total of 64 Trident II missiles and 225 nuclear warheads.
The missile booster can have a short burn time, and/or (if existing) the MIRV bus carrying the nuclear warheads can have some form of stealth technology, thereby hindering detection before the warhead reentry vehicles are released. MIRV and MRV (instead of single warhead missiles) themselves largely improve penetration since there are many more ...
Exploded diagram of the Mk21 reentry vehicle for the W87 [clarification needed]. The W87 is an American thermonuclear missile warhead formerly deployed on the LGM-118A Peacekeeper ("MX") ICBM. 50 MX missiles were built, each carrying up to 10 W87 warheads in multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRV), and were deployed from 1986 to 2005.
The path of the reentry vehicle is the upper streak of light, with the booster tanks immediately below. Lights from the Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific can be seen in the lower right corner. The Advanced Maneuverable Reentry Vehicle (AMaRV) was a prototype MARV built by McDonnell Douglas.
[46] [48] In 2011 it was reported that British warheads would receive the new Mk 4A reentry vehicles and some or all of the other upgrades that US W76 warheads were receiving in their W76-1 Life Extension Program. [49] Some reports suggested that British warheads would receive the same arming, fusing and firing system (AF&F) as the US W76-1. [50]