![LGM-118A Peacekeeper MIRV](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9c/LGM-118A_Peacekeeper_MIRV.jpg)
A multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle (MIRV) is an
exoatmospheric
The exosphere ( grc, ἔξω "outside, external, beyond", grc, σφαῖρα "sphere") is a thin, atmosphere-like volume surrounding a planet or natural satellite where molecules are gravitationally bound to that body, but where the densit ...
ballistic missile
A ballistic missile is a type of missile that uses projectile motion to deliver warheads on a target. These weapons are guided only during relatively brief periods—most of the flight is unpowered. Short-range ballistic missiles stay within the ...
payload containing several
warhead
A warhead is the forward section of a device that contains the explosive agent or toxic (biological, chemical, or nuclear) material that is delivered by a missile, rocket, torpedo, or bomb.
Classification
Types of warheads include:
* Explosiv ...
s, each capable of being aimed to hit a different target. The concept is almost invariably associated with
intercontinental ballistic missile
An intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is a ballistic missile with a range greater than , primarily designed for nuclear weapons delivery (delivering one or more thermonuclear warheads). Conventional, chemical, and biological weapons c ...
s carrying
thermonuclear warhead
A thermonuclear weapon, fusion weapon or hydrogen bomb (H bomb) is a second-generation nuclear weapon design. Its greater sophistication affords it vastly greater destructive power than first-generation nuclear bombs, a more compact size, a lowe ...
s, even if not strictly being limited to them. By contrast, a unitary warhead is a single warhead on a single missile. An intermediate case is the
multiple reentry vehicle
A multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle (MIRV) is an exoatmospheric ballistic missile payload containing several warheads, each capable of being aimed to hit a different target. The concept is almost invariably associated with i ...
(MRV) missile which carries several warheads which are dispersed but not individually aimed. Only the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Russia, China and India are currently confirmed to have deployed MIRV missile systems.
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
is developing MIRV missile systems.
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
is suspected to possess or be in the process of developing MIRVs.
The first true MIRV design was the
Minuteman III
The LGM-30 Minuteman is an American land-based intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in service with the Air Force Global Strike Command. , the LGM-30G Minuteman III version is the only land-based ICBM in service in the United States and re ...
, first successfully tested in 1968 and introduced into actual use in 1970.
The Minuteman III held three smaller
W62
The W62 was an American thermonuclear warhead designed in the 1960s and manufactured from March 1970 to June 1976. Used on some Minuteman III ICBMs, it was partially replaced by the W78 starting in December 1979, and fully replaced by W87 warhea ...
warheads of about each in place of the single
W56
The W56 (originally called the Mark 56) was an American thermonuclear warhead produced starting in 1963 which saw service until 1993, on the Minuteman I and II ICBMs.
The warhead had a yield of and a demonstrated yield-to-weight ratio of , ve ...
used in the earlier versions of this missile. From 1970 to 1975, the United States would remove approximately 550 earlier versions of the Minuteman ICBM in the
Strategic Air Command
Strategic Air Command (SAC) was both a United States Department of Defense Specified Command and a United States Air Force (USAF) Major Command responsible for command and control of the strategic bomber and intercontinental ballistic missile ...
's (SAC) arsenal and replace them with the new Minuteman IIIs outfitted with a MIRV payload, increasing their overall effectiveness.
The smaller power of the warhead was offset by increasing the accuracy of the system, allowing it to attack the same hard targets as the larger, less accurate, W56. The MMIII was introduced specifically to address the Soviet construction of an
anti-ballistic missile
An anti-ballistic missile (ABM) is a surface-to-air missile designed to counter ballistic missiles (missile defense). Ballistic missiles are used to deliver nuclear weapon, nuclear, Chemical weapon, chemical, Bioagent, biological, or conventiona ...
(ABM) system around Moscow; MIRV allowed the US to overwhelm any conceivable ABM system without increasing the size of their own missile fleet. The Soviets responded by adding MIRV to their
R-36 design, first with three warheads in 1975, and eventually up to ten in later versions. While the United States phased out the use of MIRVs in 2014 to comply with
New START
New START (Russian abbrev.: СНВ-III, ''SNV-III'' from ''сокращение стратегических наступательных вооружений'' "reduction of strategic offensive arms") is a nuclear arms reduction treaty between ...
, Russia continues to develop new missile designs using the technology.
The introduction of MIRV led to a major change in the strategic balance. Previously, with one warhead per missile, it was conceivable that one could build a defence that used missiles to attack individual warheads. Any increase in missile fleet by the enemy could be countered by a similar increase in interceptors. With MIRV, a single new enemy missile meant that multiple interceptors would have to be built, meaning that it was much less expensive to increase the attack than the defence. This
cost-exchange ratio
In anti-ballistic missile (ABM) defence the cost-exchange ratio is the ratio of the incremental cost to the aggressor of getting one additional warhead through the defence screen, divided by the incremental cost to the defender of offsetting the a ...
was so heavily biased towards the attacker that the concept of
mutual assured destruction
Mutual assured destruction (MAD) is a doctrine of military strategy and national security policy which posits that a full-scale use of nuclear weapons by an attacker on a nuclear-armed defender with second-strike capabilities would cause the ...
became the leading concept in strategic planning and ABM systems were severely limited in the 1972
Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty
The Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty (ABM Treaty or ABMT) (1972–2002) was an arms control treaty between the United States and the Soviet Union on the limitation of the anti-ballistic missile (ABM) systems used in defending areas against ballis ...
in order to avoid a massive
arms race
An arms race occurs when two or more groups compete in military superiority. It consists of a competition between two or more states to have superior armed forces; a competition concerning production of weapons, the growth of a military, and t ...
.
Purpose
The military purpose of a MIRV is fourfold:
*Enhance
first-strike
In nuclear strategy, a first strike or preemptive strike is a Preemptive war, preemptive surprise attack employing overwhelming force. First strike capability is a country's ability to defeat another List of states with nuclear weapons, nuclear p ...
proficiency for strategic forces.
*Providing greater target damage for a given
thermonuclear weapon
A thermonuclear weapon, fusion weapon or hydrogen bomb (H bomb) is a second-generation nuclear weapon design. Its greater sophistication affords it vastly greater destructive power than first-generation nuclear bombs, a more compact size, a lowe ...
payload. Several small and lower yield warheads cause much more target damage area than a single warhead alone. This, in turn, reduces the number of missiles and launch facilities required for a given destruction level - much the same as the purpose of a
cluster munition
A cluster munition is a form of air-dropped or ground-launched explosive weapon that releases or ejects smaller submunitions. Commonly, this is a cluster bomb that ejects explosive bomblets that are designed to kill personnel and destroy vehicl ...
.
[The best overall printed sources on nuclear weapons design are: Hansen, Chuck. ''U.S. Nuclear Weapons: The Secret History.'' San Antonio, TX: Aerofax, 1988; and the more-updated Hansen, Chuck,]
Swords of Armageddon: U.S. Nuclear Weapons Development since 1945
" (CD-ROM & download available). PDF. 2,600 pages, Sunnyvale, California, Chukelea Publications, 1995, 2007. (2nd Ed.)
*With single-warhead missiles, one missile must be launched for each target. By contrast, with a MIRV warhead, the post-boost (or bus) stage can dispense the warheads against multiple targets across a broad area.
*Reduces the effectiveness of an
anti-ballistic missile
An anti-ballistic missile (ABM) is a surface-to-air missile designed to counter ballistic missiles (missile defense). Ballistic missiles are used to deliver nuclear weapon, nuclear, Chemical weapon, chemical, Bioagent, biological, or conventiona ...
system that relies on intercepting individual warheads.
While a MIRV attacking missile can have multiple warheads (312 on United States and Russian missiles, or 14 in a maximum payload shorter-range configuration of the ''Trident II'' now barred by START), interceptors may have only one warhead per missile. Thus, in both a military and an economic sense, MIRVs render ABM systems less effective, as the costs of maintaining a workable defence against MIRVs would greatly increase, requiring multiple defensive missiles for each offensive one. Decoy
re-entry
Atmospheric entry is the movement of an object from outer space into and through the gases of an atmosphere of a planet, dwarf planet, or natural satellite. There are two main types of atmospheric entry: ''uncontrolled entry'', such as the entr ...
vehicles can be used alongside actual warheads to minimize the chances of the actual warheads being intercepted before they reach their targets. A system that destroys the missile earlier in its trajectory (before MIRV separation) is not affected by this but is more difficult, and thus more expensive to implement.
MIRV land-based
ICBM
An intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is a ballistic missile with a range greater than , primarily designed for nuclear weapons delivery (delivering one or more thermonuclear warheads). Conventional, chemical, and biological weapons c ...
s were considered destabilizing because they tended to put a premium on
striking first. The world's first MIRV—US
Minuteman III
The LGM-30 Minuteman is an American land-based intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in service with the Air Force Global Strike Command. , the LGM-30G Minuteman III version is the only land-based ICBM in service in the United States and re ...
missile of 1970—threatened to rapidly increase the US's deployable nuclear arsenal and thus the possibility that it would have enough bombs to destroy virtually all of the
Soviet Union's nuclear weapons and negate any significant retaliation. Later on the US feared the Soviet's MIRVs because Soviet missiles had a greater
throw-weight
A ballistic missile is a type of missile that uses projectile motion to deliver warheads on a target. These weapons are guided only during relatively brief periods—most of the flight is unpowered. Short-range ballistic missiles stay within the ...
and could thus put more warheads on each missile than the US could. For example, the US MIRVs might have increased their warhead per missile count by a factor of 6 while the Soviets increased theirs by a factor of 10. Furthermore, the US had a much smaller proportion of its nuclear arsenal in ICBMs than the Soviets. Bombers could not be outfitted with MIRVs so their capacity would not be multiplied. Thus the US did not seem to have as much potential for MIRV usage as the Soviets. However, the US had a larger number of
submarine-launched ballistic missile
A submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) is a ballistic missile capable of being launched from submarines. Modern variants usually deliver multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRVs), each of which carries a nuclear warhead ...
s, which could be outfitted with MIRVs, and helped offset the ICBM disadvantage. It is because of their first-strike capability that land-based MIRVs were banned under the
START II
START II (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) was a bilateral treaty between the United States and Russia on the Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms. It was signed by US President George H. W. Bush and Russian President Boris Yelts ...
agreement. START II was ratified by the
Russian Duma
The State Duma (russian: Госуда́рственная ду́ма, r=Gosudárstvennaja dúma), commonly abbreviated in Russian as Gosduma ( rus, Госду́ма), is the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia, while the upper house ...
on 14 April 2000, but Russia withdrew from the treaty in 2002 after the US withdrew from the
ABM treaty
The Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty (ABM Treaty or ABMT) (1972–2002) was an arms control treaty between the United States and the Soviet Union on the limitation of the anti-ballistic missile (ABM) systems used in defending areas against ballis ...
.
Mode of operation
In a MIRV, the main rocket motor (or
booster
Booster may refer to:
Amusement rides
* Booster (Fabbri ride), a pendulum ride
* Booster (HUSS ride), an evolution of the Breakdance ride
* Booster (KMG ride), a pendulum ride
Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters
*Booster, a char ...
) pushes a "bus" (see illustration) into a free-flight
suborbital
A sub-orbital spaceflight is a spaceflight in which the spacecraft reaches outer space, but its trajectory intersects the atmosphere or surface of the gravitating body from which it was launched, so that it will not complete one orbital r ...
ballistic flight path. After the boost phase, the bus manoeuvres using small on-board rocket motors and a computerised
inertial guidance system
An inertial navigation system (INS) is a navigation device that uses motion sensors (accelerometers), rotation sensors ( gyroscopes) and a computer to continuously calculate by dead reckoning the position, the orientation, and the velocity (dire ...
. It takes up a ballistic trajectory that will deliver a re-entry vehicle containing a warhead to a target and then releases a warhead on that trajectory. It then manoeuvres to a different trajectory, releasing another warhead, and repeats the process for all warheads.
The precise technical details are closely guarded
military secret
Secrecy is the practice of hiding information from certain individuals or groups who do not have the "need to know", perhaps while sharing it with other individuals. That which is kept hidden is known as the secret.
Secrecy is often controvers ...
s, to hinder any development of enemy counter-measures. The bus's on-board
propellant
A propellant (or propellent) is a mass that is expelled or expanded in such a way as to create a thrust or other motive force in accordance with Newton's third law of motion, and "propel" a vehicle, projectile, or fluid payload. In vehicles, the e ...
limits the distances between targets of individual warheads to perhaps a few hundred kilometres.
Some warheads may use small
hypersonic
In aerodynamics, a hypersonic speed is one that exceeds 5 times the speed of sound, often stated as starting at speeds of Mach 5 and above.
The precise Mach number at which a craft can be said to be flying at hypersonic speed varies, since in ...
airfoil
An airfoil (American English) or aerofoil (British English) is the cross-sectional shape of an object whose motion through a gas is capable of generating significant lift, such as a wing, a sail, or the blades of propeller, rotor, or turbine.
...
s during the descent to gain additional cross-range distance. Additionally, some buses (e.g. the
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
Chevaline
Chevaline () was a system to improve the penetrability of the warheads used by the British Polaris nuclear weapons system. Devised as an answer to the improved Soviet anti-ballistic missile defences around Moscow, the system increased the pro ...
system) can release
decoy
A decoy (derived from the Dutch ''de'' ''kooi'', literally "the cage" or possibly ''ende kooi'', " duck cage") is usually a person, device, or event which resembles what an individual or a group might be looking for, but it is only meant to lu ...
s to confuse interception devices and
radar
Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, w ...
s, such as
aluminized
Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It ...
balloons or electronic noisemakers.
Accuracy is crucial because doubling the accuracy decreases the needed warhead energy by a factor of four for radiation damage and by a factor of eight for blast damage. Navigation system accuracy and the available geophysical information limits the warhead target accuracy. Some writers believe that government-supported geophysical mapping initiatives and ocean satellite altitude systems such as
Seasat
Seasat was the first Earth-orbiting satellite designed for remote sensing of the Earth's oceans and had on board one of the first spaceborne synthetic-aperture radar (SAR). The mission was designed to demonstrate the feasibility of global satelli ...
may have a covert purpose to map mass concentrations and determine local
gravity anomalies, in order to improve accuracies of ballistic missiles. Accuracy is expressed as
circular error probable
In the military science of ballistics, circular error probable (CEP) (also circular error probability or circle of equal probability) is a measure of a weapon system's precision. It is defined as the radius of a circle, centered on the mean, wh ...
(CEP). This is the radius of the circle that the warhead has a 50 percent chance of falling into when aimed at the center. CEP is about 90–100 m for the
Trident II
A trident is a three- pronged spear. It is used for spear fishing and historically as a polearm.
The trident is the weapon of Poseidon, or Neptune, the God of the Sea in classical mythology. The trident may occasionally be held by other marine ...
and
Peacekeeper missiles.
MRV
A multiple re-entry vehicle (MRV) system for a
ballistic missile
A ballistic missile is a type of missile that uses projectile motion to deliver warheads on a target. These weapons are guided only during relatively brief periods—most of the flight is unpowered. Short-range ballistic missiles stay within the ...
deploys multiple warheads above a single aimpoint which then drift apart, producing a cluster bomb-like effect. These warheads are not individually targetable. The advantage of an MRV over a single warhead is the increased effectiveness due to the greater coverage; this increases the overall damage produced within the centre of the pattern, making it far greater than the damage possible from any single warhead in the MRV cluster; this makes for an efficient area-attack weapon and makes interception by
anti-ballistic missile
An anti-ballistic missile (ABM) is a surface-to-air missile designed to counter ballistic missiles (missile defense). Ballistic missiles are used to deliver nuclear weapon, nuclear, Chemical weapon, chemical, Bioagent, biological, or conventiona ...
s more challenging due to the number of warheads being deployed at once.
Improved warhead designs allow smaller warheads for a given yield, while better electronics and guidance systems allow greater accuracy. As a result, MIRV technology has proven more attractive than MRV for advanced nations. Multiple-warhead missiles require both a miniaturised
physics package
Nuclear weapon designs are physical, chemical, and engineering arrangements that cause the physics package of a nuclear weapon to detonate. There are three existing basic design types:
* pure fission weapons, the simplest and least technically ...
and a lower mass re-entry vehicle, both of which are highly advanced technologies. As a result, single-warhead missiles are more attractive for nations with less advanced or less productive nuclear technology. The United States first deployed MRV warheads on the
Polaris A-3 SLBM
A submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) is a ballistic missile capable of being launched from Ballistic missile submarine, submarines. Modern variants usually deliver multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRVs), each of whic ...
in 1964 on the
USS Daniel Webster. The
Polaris A-3 missile carried three warheads each having an approximate yield of . This system was also used by the Royal Navy who also retained MRV with the
Chevaline
Chevaline () was a system to improve the penetrability of the warheads used by the British Polaris nuclear weapons system. Devised as an answer to the improved Soviet anti-ballistic missile defences around Moscow, the system increased the pro ...
upgrade, though the number of warheads in Chevaline was reduced to two due to the ABM counter-measures carried.
The Soviet Union deployed 3 MRVs on the
R-27U SLBM and 3 MRVs on the
R-36P ICBM. Refer to
atmospheric re-entry
Atmospheric entry is the movement of an object from outer space into and through the gases of an atmosphere of a planet, dwarf planet, or natural satellite. There are two main types of atmospheric entry: ''uncontrolled entry'', such as the entr ...
for more details.
MIRV-capable missiles
;
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
:
*
DF-3A
The DF-3A (NATO: CSS-2) is a Chinese liquid-fueled, single-stage, nuclear medium-range ballistic missile that entered service in 1971.Chinese nuclear forces, 2010. Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.
In 1988 China sold several dozen (reportedly ...
(retired, 3 warheads)
*
DF-4A (retired, 3 warheads)
*
DF-5B (active, 3-8 warheads)
*
DF-5C (active, 10 warheads)
*
DF-31A
The Dong Feng 31 (; NATO reporting name CSS-10) is a third-generation long-range, road-mobile, three stage, solid-fuel rocket intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in the Dongfeng missile series developed by the People's Republic of China. ...
(active, 3-5 warheads)
*
DF-31B (active, 3-5 warheads)
*
DF-41
The Dongfeng-41 (DF-41, CSS-20) () is a fourth-generation Chinese solid-fuelled road-mobile intercontinental ballistic missile operated by the People's Liberation Army Rocket Force (formerly the Second Artillery Corps). DF-41 is the fourth and t ...
(active, up to 10 warheads)
*
JL-2
The JL-2 (, NATO reporting name CSS-N-14) is a Chinese second-generation intercontinental-range submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) deployed on the People's Liberation Army Navy's (PLAN) Type 094 submarines. It succeeds the JL-1 SLBM ...
(active, 1-3 warheads)
*
JL-3
The JL-3 () is a Chinese third-generation intercontinental-range submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) in development. It will likely deploy on the Type 096, a predicted future class of Chinese ballistic missile submarine.
The missile is ...
(under development)
;
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
:
*
M4 (retired, 6 warheads)
*
M45 (active, 6 warheads)
*
M51 M51 or M-51 may refer to:
* M-51 (Michigan highway), a state highway in Michigan
* M51 highway (Russia)
* M51 (Cape Town), a Metropolitan Route in Cape Town, South Africa
* M51 Skysweeper, an anti-aircraft gun
* M51 MACI mine
* M51 SLBM, a Fre ...
(active, 6-10 warheads)
;
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
*
Agni-P
Agni-P or Agni-Prime ( Agnī ''"Fire"'') is a medium-range ballistic missile being developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) as a successor for Agni-I and Agni-II missiles in the operational service of Strategic Force ...
(Successfully test-fired in October 2022)
*
Agni-V
Agni-V is a nuclear capable intercontinental ballistic missile developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation RDOof India. The missile is believed to have a range of around 5,000 to 5,500 kilometers. Scientists and experts say ...
(MIRV capability planned, existing ability suspected)
*
Agni-VI
Agni-VI (IAST: Agni ''"Fire"'') is an MIRV-capable intercontinental ballistic missile under development by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) for the Strategic Forces Command (SFC) of the Indian Armed Forces.
Description ...
(Under development)
*
K-5 (Under trials, MIRV demonstration pending)
*
K-6 (missile)
K-6 is an intercontinental submarine-launched ballistic missile under development by Defence Research and Development Organisation of India. The missile has a planned range of around 10,000 to 13,000 kilometres.
Requirement
Admiral Arun Pra ...
(Under development)
;
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
:
*
Khorramshahr missile
Khorramshahr ( fa, خرمشهر , also romanized as ''Khurramshahr'', ar, المحمرة, romanized as ''Al-Muhammerah'') is a city and capital of Khorramshahr County, Khuzestan Province, Iran. At the 2016 census, its population was 170,976, in ...
(under development, announced optional capability)
;
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
:
*
Jericho 3 (active, suspected capability, not announced, 2-3 technically possible)
;
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
:
*
Ababeel (Under trials, MIRV demonstration pending)
;
USSR
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
/
Russian Federation
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
:
![RSD10 MIRV](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ce/RSD10_MIRV.jpg)
*
R-36 mod 4 (retired, 10-14 warheads)
*
R-36 mod 5 (active, 10 warheads)
*
R-29R (active, 3 warheads)
*
R-29RK (retired, 7 warheads)
*
MR-UR-100 Sotka
The MR-UR-100 Sotka was a MIRV-warhead intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) developed and deployed by the Soviet Union from 1978 to 1993. The missile was given the NATO reporting name SS-17 Spanker and was built under the Soviet industry desig ...
(retired, 4 warheads)
*
UR-100N
The UR-100N, also known as RS-18A is an intercontinental ballistic missile in service with Soviet and Russian Strategic Missile Troops. The missile was given the NATO reporting name SS-19 Stiletto and carries the industry designation 15A30.
Deve ...
mod 3 (retired, 6 warheads)
*
RSD-10 Pioneer
The RSD-10 ''Pioneer'' (russian: ракета средней дальности (РСД) «Пионер» Wikipedia:Romanization of Russian, tr.: ''raketa sredney dalnosti (RSD) "Pioner"''; en, Medium-Range Missile "Pioneer") was an intermedia ...
(retired, 3 warheads)
*
R-39 Rif
The R-39 Rif (NATO reporting name: SS-N-20 ''Sturgeon''; bilateral arms control designation: RSM-52) was a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) that served with the Soviet Navy from its introduction in 1983 until 1991, after which it ser ...
(retired, 10 warheads)
*
R-29RM Shtil
The R-29RM Shtil (Russian: Штиль, lit. ''"Calmness"'', NATO reporting name SS-N-23 Skiff) was a liquid propellant, submarine-launched ballistic missile in use by the Russian Navy. It had the alternate Russian designations RSM-54 and GRAU i ...
(retired, 4 warheads)
*
RT-23 Molodets
The RT-23 Molodets (russian: РТ-23 УТТХ «Мо́лодец», lit. "brave man" or "fine fellow"; NATO reporting name: SS-24 Scalpel) was a cold-launched, three-stage, solid-fueled intercontinental ballistic missile developed and produced ...
(retired, 10 warheads)
*
R-29RMU Sineva
The R-29RMU2 Sineva (russian: Синева, lit. " blueness"), code RSM-54, is a Russian liquid-fueled submarine-launched ballistic missile with GRAU index 3M27, designation SS-N-23A Skiff. It can carry four warheads and is designed to be launch ...
(active, 4 or 10 warheads)
*
RS-24 Yars
The RS-24 Yars (РС-24 Ярс– ракета стратегическая (strategic missile)) - modification 24) also known as RT-24 Yars or Topol'-MR (russian: PC-24 «Ярс», NATO reporting name: SS-29 or SS-27 Mod 2) is a Russian MIRV-e ...
(active, 3-4 warheads)
*
R-29RMU2 Layner
The R-29RMU2.1 Layner (russian: Р-29РМУ2.1 "Лайнер" meaning ''Liner'') is a Russian liquid-fuelled submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) and the newest member of the R-29 missile family, developed by the Makeyev Rocket Design B ...
(active, 4 or 12 warheads)
*
RSM-56 Bulava
The RSM-56 Bulava (russian: Булава, lit. " mace", NATO reporting name SS-NX-30 or SS-N-32, GRAU index 3M30, 3K30) is a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) developed for the Russian Navy and deployed in 2013 on the new of ballist ...
(active 6-10 warheads)
*
RS-28 Sarmat
The RS-28 Sarmat (, named after the Sarmatians; NATO reporting name: SS-X-29 or SS-X-30), known as "Satan II", is a Russian liquid-fueled, MIRV-equipped super-heavy intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) produced by the Makeyev Rocket Desig ...
(under development, 10-15 warheads)
*
RS-26 Rubezh
The RS-26 Rubezh (in Russian: ''РС-26 Рубеж'') (''frontier'' or ''boundary'', also known under the name of its R&D program Avangard ''Авангард'') SS-X-31 or SS-X-29B (another version of SS-27), is a Russian solid-fueled intercont ...
(development stopped, 4 warheads)
*
BZhRK Barguzin
The RS-27 (?) or SS-X-32Zh (?) Barguzin BZhRK (БЖРК) Project is a rail-mobile intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) under development for the Russian RVSN, as a replacement of the previous railway missile train Molodets BZhRK SS-24 Sc ...
(development stopped, 4-16 warheads)
;
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
and
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
:
*
UGM-133 Trident II
The UGM-133A Trident II, or Trident D5 is a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM), built by Lockheed Martin Space in Sunnyvale, California, and deployed with the US Navy, American and Royal Navy, British navies. It was first deployed in M ...
(active, 8-14 warheads)
;
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
:
*
LGM-30 Minuteman III (active, 1-3 warheads, currently carries one warhead)
*
UGM-73 Poseidon
The UGM-73 Poseidon missile was the second US Navy nuclear-armed submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) system, powered by a two-stage solid-fuel rocket. It succeeded the UGM-27 Polaris beginning in 1972, bringing major advances in warheads ...
(retired, 10 or 14 warheads)
*
UGM-96 Trident I
The UGM-96 Trident I, or Trident C4, was an American submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM), built by Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Sunnyvale, California. First deployed in 1979, the Trident I replaced the UGM-73 Poseidon, Poseidon missi ...
(retired, 8 warheads)
*
LGM-118 Peacekeeper
The LGM-118 Peacekeeper, originally known as the MX for "Missile, Experimental", was a MIRV-capable intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) produced and deployed by the United States from 1985 to 2005. The missile could carry up to twelve Mark ...
(retired, 10 warheads)
*
UGM-133 Trident II
The UGM-133A Trident II, or Trident D5 is a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM), built by Lockheed Martin Space in Sunnyvale, California, and deployed with the US Navy, American and Royal Navy, British navies. It was first deployed in M ...
(active 8-14 warheads)
See also
*
Comparison of ICBMs This is a comparison list of intercontinental ballistic missiles developed by various countries.
ICBMs by country
Legend for launch system status in below table:
See also
* Intercontinental ballistic missile
* List of ICBMs
* List of missil ...
*
DARPA Falcon Project
The DARPA Falcon Project (Force Application and Launch from Continental United States) is a two-part joint project between the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the United States Air Force (USAF) and is part of Prompt Global ...
*
List of ICBMs
This is a list of intercontinental ballistic missiles developed by various countries.
Russia
Specific types of Russian ICBMs include:
Active
* R-36M2 Voevoda / SS-18 Satan
*UR-100N 15A30 / SS-19 Stiletto
*RT-2PM Topol / 15Zh58 / SS-25 Sickle
*R ...
*
Maneuverable re-entry vehicle (MARV or MaRV)
* ''
Missile Command
''Missile Command'' is a 1980 shoot 'em up arcade video game developed and published by Atari, Inc. and licensed to Sega for Japanese and European releases. It was designed by Dave Theurer, who also designed Atari's vector graphics game ''Tempest ...
''—1980s video game in which MIRVs must be intercepted
*
Multiple Kill Vehicle
The Multiple Kill Vehicle (MKV) was a planned U.S. missile defense program whose goal was to design, develop, and deploy multiple small kinetic energy-based warheads that can intercept and destroy multiple ballistic missiles, including possible dec ...
References
;Notes
External links
"MIRV: A BRIEF HISTORY OF MINUTEMAN and MULTIPLE REENTRY VEHICLES"by Daniel Buchonnet, Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, February 1976.
Operation 1964The Defense of the United States, 1981 CBS Five-Part TV Seriesfrom
Google Video
Google Video was a free video hosting service launched by the multinational technology company Google on January 25, 2005. Similar to YouTube, this platform allowed video clips to be hosted on Google servers and embedded on to other websites ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Multiple Independently Targetable Reentry Vehicle
Ballistic missiles
*
Penetration aids