Inspired by a previous thread by Polish Eagle regarding US ICBM/Cruise missile forces development.
These are the total number of warheads fielded by the US in Dec 1987 minus ALCM/GLGM courtesy of Salamander-Illustrated Guide to Strategic Weapons.
ICBM's
Minuteman II . . . . . . . 442
Minuteman III . . . . . 1,608
Peacekeeper . . . . . . . .140
SLBM's
Poseidon C-3 . . . . . . 2,560
Trident I C-4 . . . . . . 3,072
Total . . . . . . . . . . . 7,822
What if the US removed their possible first strike capability (although they never implied they had one) and replaced all their ICBM's with SLBM's carried on a extra 11 Ohio class SSBN's to give a new total of 7,822 warheads carried on extra Trident D II's to give a full fleet of 41 SSBN's.
Would this be plausible?
Would the US go for this option of going for a full secondary strike capability?
Regards filers.