14. HOW WOULD THE BIG SUBMARINES FIRE THEIR TRIDENT MISSILES?
Our biggest submarines, the Vanguard Class, are the country's. ultimate peacekeepers - four boats which carry the nation's main defence system, Trident ballistic missiles.
If they ever had to be fired, each Trident ballistic missile would be launched vertically from one of the 16 vertical missile tube silos arranged in two rows of eight along the top of the submarine. Each missile hatch is opened hydraulically and the missiles are forced upwards out of the tubes by a release of pressurised gas into the tube beneath the missile.
The Trident missile has a 3-stage rocket motor, the first of which ignites as the missile leaves the water. The missiles can travel up to 6500 nautical miles and the submarine commander knows exactly where each missile's load will land.
At least one of these submarines is under the sea all the time acting as a permanent deterrent and in readiness to defend our country if ever the need arose. This 'eternal vigilance' role has been carried out continuously by the Royal Navy, since 1968 carrying Polaris missiles and continuing with Trident from 1995.
