Author

Scoville, N.

Title

Missile submarines and national security

In

Scientific American

Imprint

vol. 226, no. 6, pp. 15-27

Description

Accession No.1223

Abstract

"The primary attribute required of any deterrent force is the ability to survive a "counterforce," or pre-emptive, attack. Ballistic-missile submarines are almost ideally suited to satisfying this requirement. Although they are expensive compared with other strategic weapons more than 100 million 1972 US dollars per submarine excluding the cost of missiles, their mobility and invisibility make them virtually immune to destruction in a surprise attack.

The advent of multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicles (MIRV's), which are currently being deployed on a large scale by the US, creates a situation in which the "exchange ratio" strongly favours the attacker. Thus a single missile with say, six warheads can potentially destroy six enemy ICBM's if they are caught in their silos.

Hence given the present state of military technology and reasonable anticipated advances, the primary element in the strategic-deterrent forces of both the US and the USSR will continue to be the ballistic-missile submarine. All other strategic systems will remain secondary."

Related entries

Glossary Terms

• Submarine Warfare