Broadly speaking there are two elements to the deterrent programme, a successor to the Vanguard submarines and a replacement for the Trident II D5 missiles and the warheads they carry. I am still trying to figure out how making the SSN greater in the beam by 8 feet saves money on expensive hull steels, anechoic tiles, sub-systems, stronger which means heavier planes and so more expensive as there would be a fatter boat to manoeuvre through the water. Both directly by cutting the budget and indirectly by adding requirements like Trident into the core budget. CASD is a guaranteed second strike weapon. There is no market where one can acquire an SSBN.
nest...