Common missile launcher component for next generation UK and US SSBNs

General Dynamics Electric Boat Corporation has been contracted to design a Common Missile Compartment (CMC) for the Vanguard replacement SSBNs for the Royal Navy and the USN's Ohio replacement. Both future boats are to use the same Trident missile so it makes sense to pool design costs, the CMC will design the missile tubes and launch systems for the goodies that will be carried in those tubes.



Although both navy's current SSBN fleets won't need replacing until the 2020s the work needs to begin now to develop the next generation, hopefully the mess-up that has surrounded the Astute programme won't happen again.