File:A Royal Navy Submarine Firing a Trident Nuclear Missile.ogv

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Royal Navy submarine HMS Vigilant firing a Trident nuclear ICBM (Inter Continental Ballistic Missile) during a training exercise.

One of the Navy’s four strategic submarines is always on patrol, ensuring a continuous at sea deterrent, 24/7/365, carrying the nation’s ultimate weapon somewhere in the Seven Seas. Today’s Vanguard-class submarines uphold a mission which began in the late 1960s – since April 1969 the Royal Navy’s ballistic missile boats have not missed a single day on patrol.

The Trident II D5 missile has a range of over 4,000 nautical miles and an accuracy, which can be measured in metres. Each missile is technically capable of delivering up to 12 warheads, enabling a number of different targets to be engaged, and each Vanguard class submarine has 16 missile tubes. The missile is ejected from the submarine by high-pressure gas and only when it reaches the surface does the rocket system actually fire.

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