Ground Zero - Summer 1998

Ground Zero

Summer '98 July - September

Volume 3 Issue 2

Finding a Purpose for Useless Tridents

I have been asked to write a short article on what I see as Trident's present purpose. That is easy. It keeps the business going for weapons merchants and enhances prestige for a navy fearfully involved with inter-service rivalry. I'll discuss these two functions in more detail.

Keeping The Business Going.
America now has its planned fleet of 18 Trident submarines fully equipped with missiles and spares. The number of submarines will be reduced to 14 when and if the Russian Duma ratify START-2. Four of the eight older subs based at Bangor will then be available for other purposes. But START-2 is far from being ratified and the Russians may never approve it if the US continues its plan for NATO expansion.

The eight subs at Bangor carry the older, shorter-range and less accurate Trident-1 missiles. Contrary to a Pentagon-commissioned study which determined that these mis


	siles would last well beyond the service life of the submarines, the Navy claims otherwise and says it will be cheaper to refit the submarines with new Trident-2 missiles than it would be to restart the Trident-1 productions line for replacements. Therefore the Trident-2 production line is still open and cranking out missiles for the US and Britain. It is the only US strategic missile currently inn production but it's production is scheduled to close in 2005 if the fleet is cut to 14 subs, and the service life of the submarines is not extended. Should the fleet remain at 18 subs production will continue perhaps six to eight years longer. But Trident-2 production would be perpetuated indefinitely if the Navy extends the service life of the submarines. Not unexpectedly, in early 1998 the Navy did announce that it had tacked 12 years onto the service life of all 18 Trident submarines, certifying they could operate up to 42

	years. That will keep the missile factory in business for a couple more decades at least. It will also provide more work for the submarine builders - especially if four of the subs are eventually reworked to perform other functions. Enhancing Navy Prestige. Trident is the centerpiece of the Pentagon's strategic arsenal. But the forces of US doctrine has switched away from a strategic thermonuclear war to regional wars - a strategy in which the Navy has much more competition. Although very little about Navy ambitions has filtered out for public consumption, we can examine a few remarks to glean some insight on what to expect regarding a tactical Trident. Although using Trident missiles would be an expensive way to deliver a tactical warhead, and given that such use of a nuclear missile would be politically and diplomatically unacceptable, the surgical application of a precise, deeply pene (Continued on page 6)


	Bangor to Become Home To Most Destructive Force on Earth Stephen Augustine


	According to a report recently released by the National Resources Defense Council, Taking Stock: Worldwide Nuclear Deployments 1998, there are currently 14 nuclear states in the country with the top five states accounting for 70 percent of the nation's total of 12,000 nuclear weapons. Washington State's present nuclear stockpile exceeds that of four of the six acknowledged nuclear countries. In the next few years Washington State is slated to become the state with the most number of


	nuclear warheads in the country. Currently it is ranked third after New Mexico and Georgia. Of Washington's 1685 nuclear warheads 1600 are based on Trident submarines out of Bangor. Later this summer the last of California's nuclear weapons - 160 submarine-launched nuclear tipped cruise missiles will be transferred to Bangor. Rear Admiral Paul Sullivan, commander of the Trident submarine fleet at Bangor was quoted as saying that the transfer from California was "a growth mission for the Strategic


	Weapons Facility Pacific" at Bangor. In addition to this movement of missiles from California the Navy is in the process of converting all the Bangor-based subs from the older C-4 missile to the newer D-5 missile at a total cost of around $6.4 billion. An additional 85 nuclear warheads deployed on bombers are based at Fairchild Air Force Base near Spokane. Once the implementation of Start II is completed Georgia's (Continued on page 6)