Strategic Arms Reduction Talks (START) Treaty

UNCLASSIFIED ATTACHMENT TO THE STATEMENT BY THE UNITED STATES REPRESENTATIVE TO THE JOINT COMPLIANCE AND INSPECTION COMMISSION AT THE CLOSING PLENARY OF THE TWENTY-SEVENTH SESSION, NOVEMBER, 2005

Coordinated Plenary Statement on Reentry Vehicle Inspections of Trident II SLBMs

The United States of America reaffirms that the front sections of Trident II SLBMs belonging to the United States of America are equipped with no more than eight reentry vehicles and that the United States of America will not equip them with more than eight reentry vehicles during the term of the START Treaty.

The United States of America notes that in order to resolve concerns regarding confirmation that the Trident II SLBM is not deployed with more reentry vehicles than its attributed number of warheads, the United States of America conducted a demonstration in connection with reentry vehicle inspections of Trident II missiles at the submarine base, strategic weapons facility Atlantic, Kings Bay, Georgia, on February 7-9, 2005 (hereinafter - the demonstration).

The United States of America will supplement existing procedures for conducting Trident II reentry vehicle inspections with procedures for using the measuring device demonstrated. These procedures are designed to confirm that the cover used during Trident II reentry vehicle inspections is installed on the front section of the missile contained in the SLBM launcher in the same manner as was observed during the demonstration:

1. After all of the inspectors complete their 15 minutes of viewing of the installed cover used during Trident II reentry vehicle inspections, the inspection team leader, at the request of the escort team leader, designates from among the inspection team members two measurement groups consisting of two inspectors each. When requested by the in-country escort, each group in turn moves to the temporary structure specially intended for preparing the front section for the viewing of the SLBM launcher, where it is given the opportunity to examine the measuring device used during Trident II reentry vehicle inspections.  Each group in turn observes as facility personnel take one measurement per group to determine the distance from the upper point of the hard cover to the upper point of the SLBM third stage motor, as was done during the demonstration.

2. If each of the two measurements differs by no more than three centimeters from the benchmark measurement, the two measurements are averaged to determine the distance from the upper point of the hard cover to the upper point of the SLBM third stage motor.  In this regard, as stated by the United States of America during the demonstration, the benchmark measurement for a Trident II type A SLBM configuration is 23 centimeters, and the benchmark measurement for a Trident II type B SLBM configuration is 24 centimeters.

3. The measurements taken and the average obtained for the distance from the upper point of the hard cover to the upper point of the SLBM third stage motor are recorded in the inspection report.

Provided that the average value for the distance from the upper point of the hard cover to the upper point of the SLBM third stage motor, obtained on the basis of the measurements taken using the aforementioned device, does not differ from the benchmark measurement by more than three centimeters, the inspecting party will:

1. Insert an asterisk ("*") as a note instead of a number in section II of the inspection report, in the column "confirmed by inspecting party" and indicate on that page that the asterisk refers to the relevant note in section IV of the inspection report.

2. Include the following as a note in section IV of the inspection report:

"In addition to the reentry vehicle inspection procedures, the inspected party used the measuring device demonstrated earlier during the demonstration on February 7-9, 2005, at the Kings Bay submarine base, Georgia. The measurement results specified in this report show that the cover used during the inspection was installed on the missile front section in the same manner as was observed during the demonstration.

"Thus, it has been indirectly confirmed, with the assistance of the measuring device demonstrated during the February 7-9, 2005, demonstration, that the front section of the inspected SLBM contains no more than eight reentry vehicles."