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United States: Navy Plans Trident Conversion Tests In a series of exercises planned for January, the U.S. Navy plans to test whether Trident ballistic missile submarines can be converted to a non-nuclear, conventional role, Defense Week reported today (see GSN, Oct. 2). As part of plans to reduce operationally deployed U.S. strategic nuclear forces, the Navy intends to convert four Tridents to carry conventionally armed cruise missiles instead of nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles, according to Defense Week (see GSN, Feb. 22). Each submarine would carry up to 154 cruise missiles and an advanced mini-submarine for deploying U.S. special forces. Each of the Trident’s 24 missile launch tubes is eight feet in diameter and 40 feet long, allowing each to hold up to seven cruise missiles, according to Defense Week. In the January test, the USS Florida plans to try to fire a Tomahawk missile, an important first for the U.S. Navy, said Vice Adm. John Grossenbacher, the Navy’s submarine chief and head of the Atlantic submarine fleet. The Navy plans to fit tubes for three Tomahawks into one of the Florida’s launch tubes. “We’re actually going to launch two Tomahawk missiles from those tubes,” he said. “The third missile position … will be filled with some instrumentation. We want to collect some data on what happens to the adjacent tubes when one missile comes out,” he added. Officials and experts said the tests might either validate the conversion program or derail it. “If they can’t launch the Tomahawk from a Trident II, then forget the conversions,” naval analyst Norman Polmar said. The Navy is probably confident about the outcome of the tests, a congressional source said. “I think he [Grossenbacher] was exaggerating the risk (of the experiment) to make it sound, perhaps, more transformational, or more bold than it really is,” the source said. “If it is really as risky and bold as they are saying, then why didn’t they tell us that before Congress decided to fund four of these things?” the source asked (Nathan Hodge, Defense Week, Nov. 25).
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