Each Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine carries Trident II missiles loaded with multiple nuclear warheads. What is the maximum number of warheads a single Ohio-class SSBN can carry under its current 20-tube configuration, if each Trident II is loaded to its full capacity of eight warheads?

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Each Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine carries Trident II missiles loaded with multiple nuclear warheads. What is the maximum number of warheads a single Ohio-class SSBN can carry under its current 20-tube configuration, if each Trident II is loaded to its full capacity of eight warheads?

Accepted Answer

Under New START treaty constraints implemented in 2017, each Ohio-class SSBN had four of its original 24 launch tubes deactivated, leaving 20 operational tubes. Each Trident II D5 missile can carry up to eight independently targetable warheads (W88 at 475 kilotons or W76 variants). At maximum theoretical load — 20 missiles × 8 warheads — a single SSBN could carry 160 nuclear warheads. In practice, average loading under New START verification was closer to four warheads per missile, producing roughly 80 deployed warheads per boat. Russia's 2023 suspension of New START ended mutual verification, so actual loading is no longer independently confirmed. Either way, a single SSBN carries more destructive capacity than all bombs dropped in World War II.

Each Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine carries Trident II missiles loaded with multiple nuclear warheads. What is the maximum number of warheads a single Ohio-class SSBN can carry under its current 20-tube configuration, if each Trident II is loaded to its full capacity of eight warheads?

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