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Aviation History
1988
1988 - 2805.PDF
entry) by March 31, 1989. For the moment, the programme has been restructured to reflect fund ing reductions in the fiscal year 1988 budget. Lockheed UGM-27C Polaris A3 TK Polaris will remain in Royal Navy service until the planned Trident fleet becomes operational in the early 1990s. The RN has re-equipped its Polaris rounds with new rocket motors, a programme which cost £437 million. Development of the British- designed Chevaline payload system has been completed and the system has entered service. First vessel to be re-equipped was Renown in 1982, followed by Resolution (1984) and Repulse (1986). Operator Royal Navy (four Resolution-class submarines with 16 missiles each). Lockheed UGM-73A Poseidon C3 Phaseout of the Benjamin Franklin, Lafayette, and Madison- class submarines is in progress. Only 16 now carry Poseidon. Twelve were converted to carry the Trident I missile, while in early 1986 Sam Rayburn had its launch tubes plugged and now serves as a moored nuclear reactor training ship. Nathan Hale and Nathan Greene have been decommissioned, while the Andrew Jackson is to pay off this year. Operator US Navy (6 Benjamin Franklin, 8 Lafayette, and 2 Madison-class submarines, all with 16 rounds). Lockheed UGM-93A Trident I (C4) Eight Ohio- class Trident submarines are at sea, armed with the Trident I missile. Seven more vessels are under construction, and the fleet will eventually total 20. Current production rate is one per year. Trident I will be phased out in the late 1990s. Operator US Navy (eight Ohio-class submarines, each with 24 rounds, 6 converted Benjamin Franklin-class and 6 converted Madison-class submarines, all with 16 rounds). Lockheed Trident II (DS) The development go- ahead for Trident II was announced in 1982, and test flights started in early 1987. Planned as a follow-on weapon to'the Trident I, the newer weapon will enter service on the ninth Ohio-class SSBN. Trident II will be the largest missile compatible with the launch tubes on Ohio-class SSBNs. It will also be retrofitted into earlier vessels—a process which could cost around $125 million, not count ing the cost of the missiles. Trident II is due to enter service on Tennessee, the 9th Ohio-class • SSBN, in December 1989. By 1998, a total of 312 missiles .will be deployed in 13 submarines. The new missile's maximum range will be greater than that of Trident I, increasing the areas of ocean in which the USN will be able to deploy its SSBN fleet. The first seven Ohio-class boats will be retro fitted with Trident II, bringing the total number to 20. Four Trident submarines will be built by Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering at Barrow- in-Furness for the Royal Navy. These vessels are UK-designed, but incorporate a missile compart ment based on that of the Ohio-class but with 16 rather than 24 launch tubes. The nuclear propulsion system is being designed by Rolls- Royce. Vanguard, the first of the planned vessels, was ordered in the summer of 1985 and is expected to enter service in the mid-1990s. Victorious was ordered in October 1987, and will be followed by Vengeance and Venerable. The Royal Navy plans to build a support facility for the new vessels at Rosyth in Scotland. Equip ping this force will require a total of 64 rounds, and a total of 72 is'to be purchased at an estimated cost of $3,000 million. Missiles^and launch equipment will be purchased from the USA, but the warheads fitted to the US-supplied manoeuvring "bus" will be of UK design and manufacture. Trident D5 is able to carry up to 14 warheads per missile, but is unlikely to do so in RN service. Eight per round is more probable—a warhead fit which matches the UK's military requirements and its short-term capacity to process the required nuclear materials. SOVIET UNION S-17 Spanker (Soviet designation RS-16) A force of 150 rounds of this cold-launch ICBM is deployed in ex-SS-11 silos at two missile fields. Three versions have been reported. The current service version is the Mod 3, which can carry four 750kt Mirvs over a range of 10,000km. SS-18 Satan (Soviet designation RS-20) Silos containing this large cold-launch missile have been hardened to withstand pressures estimated by US intelligence sources as 6,000 lb/in2 (4,200 kg/cm2). Five variants have been identified, but all of the 308 currently deployed at six missile fields are believed to be Mod 4, carrying a payload of ten 500kT Mirvs; the maximum range of this version is 11,000km. A relatively recent development, the new Mod 5 trades range for increased payload, carrying ten or more 750kT Mirvs over ranges of up to 9,000km. CEP of the SS-18 is around 250m, making it the most accurate Soviet ICBM of its generation. Burn-time of all Soviet ICBMs and SLBMs is rela tively long, a weakness which the US SDI programme may attempt to exploit. The SS-18 is the "worst case", having a total burn-time of around five minutes. SS-19 Stiletto (Soviet designation RS-18) Deploy ment of this hot-launch ICBM ended in 1982, with around 300 in service at four missile fields. Three versions have been reported and all have now been retrofitted to the Mod 3 standard, with a payload of six 550kT Mirvs. Some observers believe that not all are assigned to strategic targets—a proportion (probably around 60 Mod 3 rounds) is reported to be assigned to targets in Western Europe. SS-20 Sabre (Soviet designation RSD-10 Turner") Like the US Pershing II, this mobile IRBM is due to be phased out under the INF Treaty. The process of destruction started on July 22 with the deliberate explosion at Kapustin Yar of an SS-20 round. A total of 49 launch sites has been identified, 30 of which cover Nato targets, plus 19 covering China. Fifty or more could eventually be deployed. Three versions of the missile have been identified; although the latter two are probably . experimental versions not adopted for service: Mod 1, three 150kT Mirvs, 4,000km range; Mod 2, single 1".5MT RV, 4,000km range; Mod 3, 50kT lightweight warhead, 7,400km range. The CEP of all versions is reported to be 750m, giving the SS-20 a useful hard-target capability. SS-24 Scalpel A solid-propellant ICBM similar in size to Peacekeeper entered service in small numbers during 1987, and has only just been worked up to full operational status. Payload is ten Mirvs of around lOOkT yield, and the CEP may be better than 200m. Deployment began on rail- mounted vehicles. In mid-1986 tunnel systems able to shelter these were reported to be under construction near Kozelsk and Perm. It has been suggested that some rounds could be deployed in super-hardened silos before the end of the decade. An improved version of the SS-24 is expected to begin flight tests by 1990. SS-2S Sickle This solid-propellant weapon is simi lar to Minuteman. According to the Soviet Union, „ it is an improved version of the SS-13 Savage, and not a "new" ICBM as defined by Salt (the treaty restricts both sides to deploying only one new type of ICBM). The US Government disagrees; while flight trials were still in progress, the US DoD described the SS-X-25 as "probably a second new ICBM type, prohibited by the Salt II agreement". Normal payload of the SS-X-24 is a single RV of 550kT yield, but an improved version expected to begin flight trials by the end of the decade could be Mirved. J MISSILE DIRECTORY A total of nearly 100 rounds has now been deployed in mobile mode at three former SS-7 sites, and a corresponding number of SS-lls has been phased out. Twenty are reported to be located at Spassk Dal'niy, close to the border with China. When fired from pre-surveyed launch sites, SS-25 would have a CEP similar to that of the SS-24. SS-X-26 This massive solid-propellant weapon is apparently intended as a potential replacement for the SS-18. Flight trials were expected to begin at Plesetsk before the end of 1986. Payload is expected to be ten Mirvs. There is no evidence that this or any other next-generation Soviet ICBM will carry manoeuvrable re-entry vehicles. SS-X-27 A second large solid-propellant weapon was also expected to begin flight trials in late 1986, this time at Tyuratam. Early reports suggested that this missile was even larger than the SS-18 and was intended to replace the latter weapon. The Soviet Union says that the weapon is a modified SS-18. SS-X-28 A new IRBM of higher mobility than that of the SS-20 is being flight-tested, and is expected to enter service before 1990. This could be the single-warhead missile formerly identified as SS-20 Mod 5, of which a series of flight tests took place in mid-1985. SS-N-6 Sawfly As the Delta class of SSBNs grew in strength, the Soviet Navy withdrew older examples of the SS-N-6 armed Yankee-class vessels from service. Two have been converted into attack submarines by removing the launch tubes and shortening the vessel; 13 more are being reworked in the same way. One was rearmed with the SS-N-17 SLBM, another with the new SS-NX- 24 cruise missile. One Yankee SSBN was lost in the North Atlantic on October 6, 1986, following an explosion in one of its launch tubes. All oper ational Yankee-class vessels operate the SS-N-6 Mod 3 which carries two MRVs of around 500kT yield. Operator Soviet Navy (16 Yankee-class submarines each with 16 missiles). SS-N-8 This large liquid-propellant missile arms the Delta I and Delta II class submarines and has a range better than that all US SLBMs, including Trident. Trials rounds have been fired over ranges of up to 9,200km. CEP is reported to be about 400m. Two versions are known to exist (reports of a Mod 3 carrying Mirvs of unknown yield proved incorrect): Mod 1, Single re-entry vehicle with a 1.2MT warhead, 7,800km range; Mod 2, two 800kT MRVs, 9,100km range. Operator Soviet Navy (18 Delta I-class submarines, each with 12 launch tubes, four Delta Il-class submarines, each with 16 launch tubes, one Hotel III trials submarine with six launch tubes). SS-N-17 Snipe This 3,900km-range solid- propellant missile carries a single 500kT warhead and remains in service on a single Yankee II submarine fitted with 12 rounds. It was never fitted to any other vessel and may have been semi- experimental. SS-N-18 Stingray (Soviet designation RSM-S0) This massive liquid-propellant weapon is the largest SLBM in service with any nation. It entered service in 1979 on Delta III class SSBNs. Three versions have been reported: Mod 1, three 200kT Mirvs, 6,500km range; Mod 2, single 450kT RV, 8,000km range; Mod 3, seven 200kT Mirvs, 6,500km range. Operator Soviet Navy (14 Delta Ill-class submarines). SS-NX-20 Sturgeon (Soviet designation RSM-S2) Larger than the* SS-N-18 and having a greater throw weight, this missile arms the Typhoon-class ballistic missile submarines. This 15m-long missile can throw its payload of beween six and FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL, 1 October 1988 35
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