Wednesday, January 04, 2006
REENTRY VEHICLE AND MULTIPLE INDEPENDENTLY TARGETABLE REENTRY VEHICLE (MIRV)
A multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicle, or MIRV, is one of a collection of nuclear weapons carried on a single intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) or a submarine launched ballistic missile (SLBM). Using MIRVs, a single launched missile can strike several targets, or fewer targets redundantly.
The military purpose of a MIRV is twofold :
- To reduce or eliminate the effectiveness of an anti-ballistic missile system that relies on intercepting individual warheads. While a MIRVed attacking missile can have multiple (3-12 on various US missiles) warheads, interceptors can only have one warhead per missile. Thus, in both a military and practical sense, MIRVs render ABM systems less effective, as the costs of maintaining a workable defense against MIRVs would grow astronomically, and would require multiple defensive missiles for each offensive one.
- To reduce the number of missiles required to carry out an attack. With single warhead missiles, one missile must be launched for each target. The post-boost (or bus) stage of a MIRV can dispense the warheads against multiple targets across a broad area.(link)
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An Mk 941-U SSBN (Strategic Submarine Ballistic Nuclear) was launched at the Sevmash ship-yard June 26. This hard-hitting Akula (Shark)-class submarine is the biggest in the world; moreover, no other submarine displaces as much water as she does. It was named Dmitry Donskoi.
The Akula SSBN carries 20 MIRVed ICBMs (Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles); each missile has 10 nuclear warheads and a 10,000-km range. (MIRV stands for Multiple Independent Re-Entry Vehicles -- Ed.) The Akula can hit 200 large ground targets over an area of 7,000 sq. km. with one salvo. It should be mentioned in this connection that Moscow's area totals 1,000 sq. km.(link)
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Following the break-up of the Soviet Union, the pace of Russian SSBN force modernization has slowed considerably. Whereas two classes of ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs) were introduced in the 1980s (Delfin and Akula), only a single new SSBN was laid down during the 1990s (the Borey-class Yuriy Dolgorukiy), and it is still years from being completed. In contrast to earlier Soviet practices in which all three legs of the triad underwent parallel modernization programs (one exception being a relatively slow SLBM modernization program of the early 1970s), in the 1990s the modernization of the sea-going leg of the Russian nuclear triad has taken second place to the modernization of land-based ICBMs.[1]
Although some US analysts have speculated that the Yuriy Dolgorukiy would carry the R-39U [NATO designation SS-NX-28] SLBM, a derivative of the 10-warhead solid-fuel R-39 missile carried by Akulas, this missile's development began in 1985 and the decision to accept it into service was made in 1989, long before the new SSBN class was conceived. According to some Russian experts, the R-39U was intended to equip the Akulas after the service lives of their older missiles have expired.[21] The missile originally intended for the Yuriy Dolgorukiy was the Bark, or Project 3M91. A derivative of the R-39, it was nevertheless a different missile than the R-39U. A solid-fuel missile weighing 87.6 metric tons (slightly less than the 90 metric ton R-39), Bark had a throw-weight of 3.05 metric tons (as opposed to 2.55 metric tons for the R-39) and could carry up to 10 warheads. According to Director General of the Makeyev Design Bureau Vladimir Degtyar, the Bark incorporated a number of ABM system penetration-enhancing features, and could be launched on a flattened trajectory, which reduced its flight time by nearly half.[3] It was under development until 1997, when it was cancelled following three unsuccessful tests.[22](link)
Re-entry vehicle
Multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle
History of Minuteman and Multiple Reentry Vehicles (MIRVs)
Nuclear Weapon
The Nuclear Information Project
3M14 Bulava (Mace) SS-N-30 ICBM
RUSSIAN NAVY RECEIVES THE WORLD'S BIGGEST SUBMARINE
Russia: Strategic Naval Deterrent Overview
SS-NX-30 Bulava ICBM
Russia to deploy new hypersonic missile systems
Russia tests new long-range ballistic missile
Status of World Nuclear Forces
ICBM LGM-30 Minuteman III Modernization
Submarine Launched Ballistic Missiles
IMAGES (from top):
- Minuteman III (ICBM) RV MIRV configuration
- Test at the Kwajalein Atoll
- Minuteman III (ICBM) RV configurations
- MIRV (see detailed information in picture)
- 14 kiloton atomic explosion
- LGM-30 Minuteman III MIRVs
¶ 15:52
A multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicle, or MIRV, is one of a collection of nuclear weapons carried on a single intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) or a submarine launched ballistic missile (SLBM). Using MIRVs, a single launched missile can strike several targets, or fewer targets redundantly.
The military purpose of a MIRV is twofold :
- To reduce or eliminate the effectiveness of an anti-ballistic missile system that relies on intercepting individual warheads. While a MIRVed attacking missile can have multiple (3-12 on various US missiles) warheads, interceptors can only have one warhead per missile. Thus, in both a military and practical sense, MIRVs render ABM systems less effective, as the costs of maintaining a workable defense against MIRVs would grow astronomically, and would require multiple defensive missiles for each offensive one.
- To reduce the number of missiles required to carry out an attack. With single warhead missiles, one missile must be launched for each target. The post-boost (or bus) stage of a MIRV can dispense the warheads against multiple targets across a broad area.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
An Mk 941-U SSBN (Strategic Submarine Ballistic Nuclear) was launched at the Sevmash ship-yard June 26. This hard-hitting Akula (Shark)-class submarine is the biggest in the world; moreover, no other submarine displaces as much water as she does. It was named Dmitry Donskoi.
The Akula SSBN carries 20 MIRVed ICBMs (Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles); each missile has 10 nuclear warheads and a 10,000-km range. (MIRV stands for Multiple Independent Re-Entry Vehicles -- Ed.) The Akula can hit 200 large ground targets over an area of 7,000 sq. km. with one salvo. It should be mentioned in this connection that Moscow's area totals 1,000 sq. km.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Following the break-up of the Soviet Union, the pace of Russian SSBN force modernization has slowed considerably. Whereas two classes of ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs) were introduced in the 1980s (Delfin and Akula), only a single new SSBN was laid down during the 1990s (the Borey-class Yuriy Dolgorukiy), and it is still years from being completed. In contrast to earlier Soviet practices in which all three legs of the triad underwent parallel modernization programs (one exception being a relatively slow SLBM modernization program of the early 1970s), in the 1990s the modernization of the sea-going leg of the Russian nuclear triad has taken second place to the modernization of land-based ICBMs.[1]
Although some US analysts have speculated that the Yuriy Dolgorukiy would carry the R-39U [NATO designation SS-NX-28] SLBM, a derivative of the 10-warhead solid-fuel R-39 missile carried by Akulas, this missile's development began in 1985 and the decision to accept it into service was made in 1989, long before the new SSBN class was conceived. According to some Russian experts, the R-39U was intended to equip the Akulas after the service lives of their older missiles have expired.[21] The missile originally intended for the Yuriy Dolgorukiy was the Bark, or Project 3M91. A derivative of the R-39, it was nevertheless a different missile than the R-39U. A solid-fuel missile weighing 87.6 metric tons (slightly less than the 90 metric ton R-39), Bark had a throw-weight of 3.05 metric tons (as opposed to 2.55 metric tons for the R-39) and could carry up to 10 warheads. According to Director General of the Makeyev Design Bureau Vladimir Degtyar, the Bark incorporated a number of ABM system penetration-enhancing features, and could be launched on a flattened trajectory, which reduced its flight time by nearly half.[3] It was under development until 1997, when it was cancelled following three unsuccessful tests.[22]
links
IMAGES (from top):
- Minuteman III (ICBM) RV MIRV configuration
- Test at the Kwajalein Atoll
- Minuteman III (ICBM) RV configurations
- MIRV (see detailed information in picture)
- 14 kiloton atomic explosion
- LGM-30 Minuteman III MIRVs
¶ 15:52
