Huh?

strategic towing detected...

I assume it's because they can't make the inflatable shroud on the decoy out of the same heat shield material as the RV. So to make them look the same they gave the RV a shroud made of the inflatable material.

When they hit the atmosphere, the comparatively light decoys start slowing way down compared to the heavy RVs. So the decoys have those motors to keep their deceleration equal to the RVs, prolonging the ruse. But now the enemy can tell which are real and which are decoys! So the real RVs have smaller motors that burn simply to make them look the same as the decoys. But they do not provide significant thrust; it's more like the tracer compound in a bullet. Anyway current RVs don't have any of that now, because we don't use any penaids at all.

@@dziban303 oh interesting. I am sure we do use these still but just not "officially". Have to wonder about all these pronounced MIRV rollbacks. Very difficult to verify. It's not like when we decommissioned silos due to non-proliferation treaties and left the visible signs so the Russians could see from space that we complied.

Yes, they do not have their own engine

💀💀💀

it's not really theirs tho, Soviet left it there when it collapse, Soviet is Russia, even the nuke codes are in Moscow

@@Haunt888 I don’t know where you got this stupid idea that Soviet is ruzzia. Soviet Union was a well developed self sustainable economy and the most powerful military in the world. To give you a perspective, the Soviet Union was a mighty red bear that everyone was afraid of, that bear is dead, ruzzia is a bear’s louse in comparison.

​@@johndorian3685tell that to Russia. Russia thinks it is a superpower.

There is one left... sans warhead, it is in the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum. Bet the Ukranians wish they had it back!

Yes I have seen videos of that on youtube.

it "hides" behind the heat of the RV and helps the RV appear exactly like the decoy so they seem indistinguishable from each other.

@@__hjg__2123 Works in the old days. Not that great now, we've come a long way in sensor tech.

They can. But the NEW START Treaty doesn’t allow it. On Average, we have 4 Nuclear Warheads on on Submarine Launched Ballistic Missiles. A mix of W88, 475KT warheads, W76-1, 90KT warheads, and the new W76-2, 5KT, low yield nuclear warhead.

@@jacobholmes5392 I suppose the fewer warheads allow for more decoys.

@@daikucoffee5316 It also has other penetration capabilities…

you must be a hit at parties

A few countries have ABM systems. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-ballistic_missile All of these systems have very limited range due to the extremely high speed intercept, they amount more to denial of area systems for a bubble of a few hundred kilometers.

I still.

The implication is that the deterrent umbrella is significantly different- or has systems which are distinct. Perhaps the SLBM is truly *the* determining object in any nation's deterrent. The UK and France only field these if I'm correct. The importance is keeping our subs quiet and undetected and ready to deliver upon a valid order. I couldn't imagine a job more important while simultaneously being frightening beyond comprehension. Is there some sort of "post-launch clarity"? What will their reactions be knowing what their job has accomplished? What can stop MIRVs at 20 times the speed of sound. It's many miles per second. Godspeed to those who are serving as our deterrent. Heres to hoping we will never find out what they can do

@@Chironex_Fleckeri " Perhaps the SLBM is truly the determining object in any nation's deterrent. " Oh.....there is no doubt about it. The enemy can attack our land based systems but they know.....for sure....that the SLBMs are going to get them.

@@Chironex_Fleckeri "The UK and France only field these if I'm correct. " SLBMs ? No, the U.S. and Russia also have them. From what I read 5 nations have SLBMs.

@@Chironex_Fleckeri "Is there some sort of "post-launch clarity"? What will their reactions be knowing what their job has accomplished?" That's a VERY good question. When I was in the Air Force we launched all of our aircraft off the base once during an exercise. I was young.....I turned to our supervisor and asked him, "Hey Sarge, what do we do now? All the planes are gone." His answer to me was to chuckle and say, "Airman, now we die. Because enemy missiles will be about 15 minutes away from impact on our base." That was very sobering. I guess the conventional answer would be that we would prepare the base to receive returning bombers should they or us survive.

@@rael5469 There are 7 nations so far that have SLBMs - the 5 UN Security Council powers as well as India and North Korea. Very recently, Japan and South Korea are developing non-nuclear SLBMs.