Bluemoon
| Bluemoon | |
|---|---|
| [[File:Left: Mk 1 Right: Mk 2 File:Bluemoon.png|frameless]] | |
| Type | SLBM |
| Service history | |
| In service | 1970-1982 (Mk 1), 1978-2002 (Mk 2) |
| Used by | Arthurista |
| Production history | |
| Manufacturer | Arthuristan Dynamics |
| Specifications | |
| Weight | 30-32.5 tonnes |
| Length | 10.4m |
| Diameter | 1.88m |
| Engine | Two-stage solid propellant (Mk 1 and 2), three stage solid propellant (Mk 2) |
Operational range | 5,000km (Mk 1), 7,500km (Mk 2) |
Guidance system | ~Astro-inertial |
The Bluemoon was Arthurista's first submarine-launched ballistic missile, intended to arm the Reprisal-class submarine. Introduced in 1970, the The Bluemoon was fully retired in 2002, replaced by the Bluesun SLBM.
Bluemoon Mk 1
The Bluemoon had a prolonged development process, with its design team struggling to determine the best materiel with which to construct the airframe, as well as developing a solid rocket fuel which was fit for purpose. The first prototype, built with ordinary steel, had barely more range than a SRBM. It was succeeded with a titanium-based second prototype which, though impressive in terms of performance, was also ruled out due to the immaturity of contemporary titanium-fabrication technology. It was not until the design team settled on fibreglass that the project made serious headway. This resulted in the delaying of its operational deployment until 1970.
The priority of the missile's designer was to allow submarines to attack their targets from a safe distance. As such, they decided to sacrifice throw-weight in order to achieve greater range. With a maximum reach of 5,000km, it allowed submarines to launch further from shore-based maritime patrol aircrafts, as well as dictating a measurably larger search area for enemy ASW forces.
The main trade-off was that it carried only a single lightweight, radiation, X-ray and EMP-hardened 650Kt warhead. The yield was small for a single-warhead design, which typically featured a megaton-range physics package, but considered adequate as it was primarily designed as a countervalue weapon anyway and, as such, was not intended to attack superhardened structures such as missile silos. The Bluemoon Mk 1 carried a significant load of decoys and penaids, integrated within a countermeasures suite known as 'Reindeer', designed to allow its single warhead to reliably penetrate the early ABM defences of the time.
The Bluemoon Mk 1 was introduced into active deployment between 1970-1972. With a reliable SLBM now available, Arthuristan planners began to gradually trim down its fleet of long-range strategic bombers, until Bomber Command was stabilised in its current strength of four squadrons around the mid-70's.
Bluemoon Mk 2
The Mk 1 missile remained in active service only for a short period of time. The Bluemoon Mk 2, introduced in 1978, was a significant enhancement in every way. Although dimensionally identical to the Mk 1, it featured a third stage rocket motor and advances such as a more energy-dense solid rocket fuel and lightweight architecture incorporating epoxy and polymers, as well as a rounded-nose fairing with its aerodynamic qualities improved with an aero-spike. The result was a major increase in range and, more importantly, a significant improvement in throw weight, enabling a missile to carry four 150kt Red Goblin warheads in an MIRV setup. With this dramatic increase in its SSBNs' firepower, Arthuristan planners could finally feel confident enough to scale down its strategic forces to a measurably less expensive restricted deterrence posture, based primarily counter-value second strike.
The Bluemoon was fully retired in 2002, replaced by the Bluesun SLBM.