Ballistic missile submarines

The Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine, USS Michigan (SSBN-727) at the Naval Submarine Base, Bangor, Washington, USA.

Submarine Delta IV class — An aerial starboard bow view of a Russian Navy Northern Fleet DELTA IV class nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine underway on the surface, supposedly this is K-18 "Karelia" on 1 Jan 1994.

The plan[]

It was to have a hidden way of striking the enemy from any part of the world by surprise or after all land and air forces had been destroyed.

The Nazis thought up a plan, but the Americans and Soviets eventually pulled it off in the mid 1950s.

The submarines[]

They are submarines equipped to launch submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) with nuclear warheads from under water as either part of a secondary strike, pre-emptive strike or in a surprise nuclear attack.

A secondary strike could be launched from ballistic missile submarines, surviving land base missiles and already airborne bombers.

They are difficult to detect and can remain submerged and invisible for up to six months, if that a whole year in some cases. They can within minutes fire there ICBMs to shower any landmass on the planet with multiple independently target-able thermonuclear warheads and annihilate it.

A late 1950s Hotel-class submarine could stay submerged for up to 60 days, only limited by both the need for food and the crew's physical/mental health.