The George Washington and Soviet Golf classes show that ballistic-missile submarines were not solely nuclear-powered. Their strategic role grows directly from the traditional submarine advantage of concealment: the boat sails and hides alone to protect its payload. A submarine that survives unseen preserves a retaliatory threat even after an enemy's first strike. This makes deterrence depend less on faith in promises than on each side's expectation that the other values self-preservation under mutually assured destruction.
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Ballistic-missile submarines and the deterrent value of hiding
Ballistic-missile submarines turned stealth into strategic deterrence, but their security rests on a grim balance of mutual vulnerability.
Ballistic Missile SubmarinesCold WarCold War StrategyDiesel Electric SubmarinesGeorge Washington Class SubmarinesGolf Class SubmarinesMutually Assured DestructionNorth KoreaNuclear DeterrenceNuclear SubmarinesProject 629 SubmarinesSecond Strike CapabilitySsbkSSBNStrategic DeterrenceSubmarine Launched Ballistic MissilesSubmarine StealthSubmarine WarfareSurvivable Nuclear Forces