Conventional Missile System to Provide Diverse, Rapid Capabilities
 


(Source: US Department of Defense; issued March 9, 2006)
   
WASHINGTON --- The conventional "Trident" missile program the Pentagon will ask Congress to fund is part of a larger strategy to better address diverse threats facing the United States and will further the country's defense goals, a Defense Department spokesman said here today. *  

The Conventional Trident Modification program, which will cost about $503 million, was developed based on a 2001 comprehensive review of America's deterrence policy, the spokesman said, speaking on background. The study, he said, recognized that a deterrence strategy that relies primarily on nuclear weapons does not address the diverse threats the United States faces, and therefore the country must have a balance of nuclear forces, conventional strike capabilities and non-kinetic capabilities, which include information operations and non-lethal weapons.  

The goal of this new strategy is to produce a force capable of assuring allies, dissuading competitors, deterring adversaries, and if necessary defeating enemies, the spokesman said. The conventional missile program will help achieve this goal by providing the capability to defeat threats on short notice without crossing the nuclear threshold, he said.  

"(Conventional Trident Modification)'s advantages over other conventional strike capabilities is its ability to provide prompt response to threats around the globe," he said. "The (program) will allow national leadership to act in a crisis without a lengthy military buildup."  

Additional benefits of the Conventional Trident Modification are that it requires no forward-deployed or visible presence, has few if any requirements for allied overflight permission, and gives the enemy little or no warning before a strike, the spokesman said.  

To ensure other countries don't mistake a conventional missile launch for a nuclear missile attack, DoD is developing confidence-building measures, such as advance notification and shared early warnings, he said. Also, DoD can borrow notification procedures from its long history of test launches of dual-role weapons systems.  

The Conventional Trident Modification program gives the United States a long-range strike option against targets beyond the range of current systems or that are heavily defended, the spokesman said. Also, the deployment of the program will send a message to adversaries that the United States is prepared to defend its national interests, he said.  

"If needed in the war on terrorism, the (Conventional Trident Modification program) can help deter state actors from sponsoring terrorism by imposing the threat of prompt conventional attack," he said.  

Interesting. Must be pretty damn accurate, the nuclear ones only need a CEP of a couple hundred meters. I wonder what kind of warhead it will carry.

bump

Unbelievably expensive for a conventional, tactical weapon system.  Maybe with GPS and a single big warhead a Trident can be accurate enough to be effective with a HE warhead.  But the price!  Why even try this when for far cheaper it could be done with B-2s?

Quoted: Unbelievably expensive for a conventional, tactical weapon system.  Maybe with GPS and a single big warhead a Trident can be accurate enough to be effective with a HE warhead.  But the price!  Why even try this when for far cheaper it could be done with B-2s?

Your missing the point, it's not going to be carrying an HE warhead, it's going to be kinetic energy. 5000lbs of depleted uranium slamming into your head at Mach 10+ is going to ruin your day, and will in fact be deeper penetrating then a nuclear detonation.

Quoted: Your missing the point, it's not going to be carrying an HE warhead, it's going to be kinetic energy. 5000lbs of depleted uranium slamming into your head at Mach 10+ is going to ruin your day, and will in fact be deeper penetrating then a nuclear detonation.

AHHH you said the word 'uranium'!!  

*runs away in panic*

Quoted: Unbelievably expensive for a conventional, tactical weapon system.  Maybe with GPS and a single big warhead a Trident can be accurate enough to be effective with a HE warhead.  But the price!  Why even try this when for far cheaper it could be done with B-2s?

Sure it's expensive, but it can also be anywhere in the world in 30 minutes. B2 can't do that.

Quoted: Unbelievably expensive for a conventional, tactical weapon system.  Maybe with GPS and a single big warhead a Trident can be accurate enough to be effective with a HE warhead.  But the price!  Why even try this when for far cheaper it could be done with B-2s?

a) it's not that expensive when you figure that we've already spent the costs on the launch platform. Just alter the payload and terminal guidance - not expensive in the grand scheme of things.

b) B-2s can get shot down. So far, we're the only ones knocking ICBMs out of the air.