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A multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle (MIRV) is an exoatmospheric ballistic missile payload containing several warheads, each capable of being aimed to hit a different target. The concept is almost invariably associated with intercontinental ballistic missiles carrying thermonuclear warheads , even if not strictly being limited to ...
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.
In the late 1970s the Trident I (C-4) missile with a range of 7,400 kilometres (4,000 nmi) and eight MIRV warheads was backfitted to 12 of the Poseidon-equipped submarines. [ 23 ] [ 24 ] [ 25 ] The SSBN facilities (primarily a submarine tender and floating dry dock ) of the base at Rota, Spain were disestablished and the Naval Submarine Base ...
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.
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.
Here is a diagram showing that the diameter of the reentry vehicle is no more than 50.8 cm. [27] [28] The yield of the W62 is publicly believed to be 170 kilotonnes of TNT (710 TJ). [ 2 ] The W56 warhead on Minuteman III's predecessor had a yield of 1.2 megatonnes of TNT (5.0 PJ), [ 29 ] while its successor, the W78, has a yield of 330 to 350 ...
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.