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The Polaris Missile was a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) carrying a nuclear warhead developed during the Cold War for the United States Navy.

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• originally a naval weapons system, only later became a 'deterrent'. (Being advertised as a low accuracy anti-naval counterforce weapon, it was less objectionable to the USAF.)

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Origins

• Alliance with US Army and the Jupiter
• safety concerns (liquid propellant vs. solid propellant)
• size concerns (Navy needed a smaller missile suitable for shipboard use)

Technology

• warhead - (development of compact warhead)
• propellant
• inertial navigator/guidance

Versions of the Polaris Missile

Polaris AX/A1X

This series was a protoype used to test various missile systems.

Polaris A-1 (UGM-27A)

Lockheed developed it as a solid fuel Fleet Ballistic Missile (FBM) for the US Navy. The first successful test flight was from Cape Canaveral on January 7, 1960.

The Polaris's first version, the A-1, weighed 28,800 lb (13 t), stood 28.5 ft (8.7 m) tall, had a diameter of 54 in (1.4 m), and had a range of 1000 nautical miles (1,852 km). A test launch from the submarine on July 20, 1960, was the first ever rocket launch from a submerged launch platform. The USS George Washington was the first fleet ballistic missile submarine (SSBN in US naval terminology), carrying sixteen missiles. From 1960 to 1966 a further forty SSBNs were launched.

The nuclear warhead was developed at the (now) Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory by a team headed by Harold Brown from 1957. In July 1960, the Navy accepted delivery of the first 16 warheads and on November 15 the first Polaris missile was test launched from a submarine.

Polaris A-2 (UGM-27B)

• As the program precedeed and the IOC date was accelerated, the program was split into two tracks. An 'interim' missile, which became the A-1, and the 'operational' version, which became the A-2

Polaris A-3 (UGM-27C)

• Use of MARV

Disputed

No version of Polaris ever carried a MARV or even a MIRV. The three warheads were known originally as a 'cluster' of warheads, later renamed MRV - Multiple Re-entry Vehicles. Unlike the later MIRV they were not independently targetted. The three MRVs were spaced about a single common target. Hansen's Swords of Armageddon gives a good account of how they evolved from a Navy requirement for a one megaton warhead that was not able to be met because the 1959-62 nuclear testing moratorium prevented a proof test. Three previously tested clustered 200 kT W-58 warheads were offered to the Navy as an alternative. Although their combined yield was less than the desired one megaton, their destructive power against an area target was as great as a single one megaton weapon. Only later did the strategists realise their strategic advantages for the U.S. A good example of the Iron Law of Unintended Consequences. Brian Burnell

Polaris B-3

Later versions (the A-2, A-3, and B-3) were larger, weighed more, and had longer ranges. The range increase was most important: The A-2 could fly 1500 nautical miles (2,300 km), the A-3 2500 nautical miles (4,600 km), and the B-3 2000 nautical miles (3,700 km). The A-3 featured multiple-reentry vehicles (MRVs) and the B-3 was to have featured penetration aids to counter Soviet Anti-Ballistic Missile defenses. The B-3 evolved into the C-3 Poseidon missile.

Operational History

Replaced by the Poseidon in all but the 598 and 608 class SSBN's.

Polaris in the United Kingdom

Why A-3 was chosen. Brief history and links to R-bomber pages.

• Chevaline

The British use of Polaris stems from the failure of the Blue Streak missile and the cancellation of the Skybolt project in the 1950s. Harold Macmillan and John F. Kennedy agreed at the 1962 Nassau Conference (referred to as the Nassau Agreement) that the United States would supply Britain with Polaris missiles. America would supply the missiles, the launch tubes and the fire control system, while the warheads and submarines would be British made. In return America was given certain assurances by Britain regarding the use of the missile. The Polaris Sales Agreement was signed on April 6, 1963.

Disputed

The Blue Streak missile did not fail, it was cancelled because of changed military perceptions about the survivability of fixed location, land-based missiles; especially in locations like Western Europe so close to Soviet missiles based in East Germany. Blue Streak went on to a successful second career as a satellite launch booster for a collaborative European space programme. Skybolt was cancelled by the incoming Kennedy Administration because they percieved it as not good value for money. The U.S. Air Force faced with budget cuts opted to lose the Skbolt program and keep the XB-70 supersonic bomber program. As it turned out, they lost both. Brian.Burnell 13:28, 16 June 2006 (UTC)

The British Polaris submarines were the Resolution-class ballistic missile submarines. The Polaris system underwent a significant, British designed, life extension programme called Chevaline, which while reducing the total number of warheads available added various defensive measures.

The British eventually upgraded to the Trident missile after much political wrangling over the cost and necessity, but waited for the Trident II (D5) variant.

References & Additional Reading

Bibliography

• Spinardi

External Links

• Jupiter Missile History, this link leads to the chapter on the joint US Army/US Navy development of the Jupiter Missile.
• Federation of American Scientists A-1, A-2, A-3.
• Designation-systems.net
• Lockheed Martin Space Systems