Trident is an operational system of four Vanguard -class submarines armed with Trident II D-5 ballistic missiles, able to deliver thermonuclear warheads from multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicles (MIRVs). The Defence Secretary announced work on the new nuclear deterrent will begin today as the first pictures of £31billion Trident submarines were unveiled. The Trident missile is a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) equipped with multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRV). The Columbia class will take over the role of submarine presence in the United States’ strategic nuclear force. The class's design allows the boat to operate for about 15 years between major overhauls. The Columbia class is being designed to replace the UGM-133 Trident II–armed Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines, whose remaining boats will be decommissioned, one per year, beginning in 2027. Douglas Dalgleish and Larry Schweikart, Trident. The Ohio class was designed in the 1970s to carry the concurrently designed Trident submarine-launched ballistic missile.The first eight Ohio-class submarines were armed at first with 24 Trident I C4 SLBMs. For special operations, the With the cooperation of both Electric Boat and Newport News Shipbuilding, in 2007, the U.S. Navy began a cost-control study.D. Naval Institute, citing Naval Sea Systems Command, revealed additional design information:Electric drive is a propulsion system that uses an electric motor that turns the propeller of a vessel. The new submarines will carry fewer nuclear missiles than their predecessors. 1984. Sir Michael Fallon … Also taken into consideration was how the maintenance schedule of each submarine will affect that boat’s availability to be deployed on mission.Using the information from these studies, the Navy concluded that a new design would be the least expensive option that could meet all of the technical requirements.In April 2014, the Navy completed a 300-page specification report for the In March 2016, the U.S. Navy announced that General Dynamics Electric Boat was chosen as the prime contractor and lead design yard.In late 2016, some 3,000 employees were involved, in Electric Boat alone, in the detailed design phase of the program,On 28 July 2016, it was reported that the first submarine of the class will be named Although still evolving, the following are some of the characteristics for the SSBN(X) design:The U.S. Navy has also stated that "owing to the unique demands of strategic relevance, SSBN(X)s must be fitted with the most up-to-date capabilities and stealth to ensure they are survivable throughout their full 40-year life span. It is operated by the Royal Navy and based at Clyde Naval Base on the west coast of Scotland.

Each will have launch tubes for 16 Trident D-5 missiles, for a grand total … Beginning with the ninth Trident submarine, Tennessee, the remaining boats were equipped with the larger, three-stage Trident II D5 missile. In studies to determine how many submarines would be needed to support the United States' strategic nuclear force, the U.S. Navy looked at the number of missiles required to be at sea and on station at any given time, the number of missiles each submarine should be armed with and the likelihood that a submarine will remain undiscovered by the enemy and be capable of launching its missiles. "In November 2012, the U.S. The other two Trident tubes are converted to swimmer lockout chambers. "USS Kentucky SSBN 737 Ballistic Missile Submarine" These submarines are reported to be as quiet at their cruising speed of 20 The conversion modified 22 of the 24 88-inch (2.2 m) diameter Trident missile tubes to contain large The missile tubes also have room for stowage canisters that can extend the forward deployment time for special forces.

It is part of a wider (Integrated electric power) concept whose aim is to create an "all electric vessel".Conceptually, electric drive is only a segment of the propulsion system (it does not replace the nuclear reactor or the Various electric motors have and are being developed for both military and non-military vessels.More recent data shows that the U.S. Navy appears to be focusing on permanent-magnet, radial-gap electric propulsion motors (although the In December 2008, General Dynamics Electric Boat Corporation was selected to design the Common Missile Compartment that will be used on the In 2012, the U.S. Navy announced plans for its SSBN(X) to share a common missile compartment (CMC) design with the Royal Navy's 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).