TRIDENT I C-4

TRIDENT, named for the three pronged spear (TRIDENT) of mythology's King Neptune is the Navy's third generation fleet ballistic missile program. It is a part of the Nation's strategic deterrent triad, which also includes land-based missile systems and manned bombers.

The TRIDENT I, or C-4 missile, represents a quantum leap in technology and capability of the fleet ballistic missile (over the POLARIS/-POSEIDON predecessors). The missile has a range of more that 4,000 nautical miles, more that 1,500 nautical miles greater than POLARIS.

General Characteristics

Primary Function: Strategic Nuclear Deterrence
Power Plant: Three-stage solid-propellant rocket
Thrust: First stage, 202,600 pounds (91,170 kilograms)
Length: 34 feet (10.2 meters)
Weight: 73,000 pounds (32,850 kg)
Diameter: 74 inches (1.8 meters)
Range: 4,000 nautical miles (4,600 statute miles or 7,360 km)
Guidance systems: Inertial
Warheads: Nuclear MIRV (Multiple Independently Targetable Reentry Vehicles)
Date Deployed: 1976