The Doomsday Ships: New U.S. Ballistic Missile Submarine Program

... strategic nuclear forces, including nuclear powered ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs) and submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs), is a key strategic stability issue in the Russia-U.S. relationship. Whereas Russia launched the process quite a while ... ... the backbone of the U.S. nuclear juggernaut. According to the Congressional Research Service , by 2018 implementation of the START III Treaty will see SSBNs account for about 35 percent of total launchers and deployed launchers (280 out of 800 and 240 ...