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The United Kingdom's Polaris programme provided the first submarine-based British nuclear weapons system. "Polaris" itself was an operational system of four ''Resolution''-class submarines, each armed with 16 UGM-27 Polaris A-3 ballistic missiles, with each missile able to deliver three ET.317 thermonuclear warheads around a single target. This configuration was later upgraded to carry two hardened warheads along with a range of decoys. Operated by the Royal Navy and based at Clyde Naval Base on Scotland's west coast, at least one submarine was always on patrol to provide a continuous at-sea deterrent. The British Polaris programme was announced in December 1962 following the Nassau Agreement between the US and the UK. Construction of the submarines began in 1964, and the first patrol took place in June 1968. In the 1970s it was determined that the re-entry vehicles were vulnerable to a Soviet anti-ballistic missile screen concentrated around Moscow. To ensure that a credible and independent nuclear deterrent was maintained, the UK developed an improved front-end named Chevaline. There was huge controversy when this project became public knowledge in 1980, as it had been kept secret by four successive governments while incurring huge expenditure. Polaris patrols continued until May 1996, by which time the phased handover to the replacement Trident system had been completed. ==History== The Royal Navy began seeking a role in the United Kingdom's nuclear weapons program after World War II. In 1948 it proposed carrier-based aircraft for nuclear weapons delivery, although bombs small enough to be carried on such craft did not yet exist. Its "carriers versus bombers" debate with the Royal Air Force for funding and support resembled the similar interservice dispute in the United States at this time that led to the "Revolt of the Admirals". In 1956 Britain began participating in United States Navy admiral Hyman Rickover's nuclear navy program, including both nuclear marine propulsion and the development of a solid-fuel submarine rocket. During the 1950s and early 1960s, Britain's nuclear deterrent was based around the Air Force's V-bombers. But in the early 1960s developments in radar and surface-to-air missiles made it clear that bombers were becoming vulnerable, and would be unlikely to penetrate Soviet airspace. Free-fall nuclear weapons would no longer be a credible deterrent. To address this problem, in May 1960 the British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan arranged with US President Eisenhower to equip the V-bombers with the US-designed GAM-87 Skybolt. Skybolt was a range ballistic missile that allowed the launching bombers to remain well away from Soviet defences, and launch attacks that would be difficult or impossible to stop. With this range, the V bombers would have to fly only a few hundred miles from their bases before being in range for an attack on Moscow. Under the agreement the UK's contribution to the program was limited to developing suitable mounting points on the Avro Vulcan bomber, installing the required guidance systems that fed the missiles updated positioning information, and development of their own version of the US W47 warhead to arm it, the RE.179.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 title=United Kingdom Aerospace and Weapons Projects )〕 The subsequent Kennedy administration expressed serious doubts of both Skybolt and the US deterrent force in general. Robert McNamara was highly critical of the US bomber fleet, which he saw as obsolete in an age of Intercontinental ballistic missiles. McNamara was equally concerned about the UK retaining an independent nuclear force, and worried that the US could be drawn into a war by the UK, or that the Soviets could use the UK as a proxy hostage. He wanted to bring the UK into a dual-key arrangement. McNamara first broached the idea of cancelling Skybolt with the British in November 1962. When this was reported in the House of Commons, a storm of protest broke out. At a conference in the Caribbean, Macmillan insisted that the UK would be retaining an independent deterrent capability, no matter what the cost of developing an independent launch platform. Kennedy backed down and abandoned his attempts to persuade the UK to accept a dual-key arrangement. The two leaders concluded the Nassau Agreement which would see the purchase of US missiles to serve aboard UK-built submarines. This statement was later formalised as the Polaris Sales Agreement, which is still in force today having been extended to cover the Trident programme. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「UK Polaris programme」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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