by James Jinks
Next we are taken to see a complete missile. At nearly 13 metres in length and over 2 metres in diameter, each one weighs 60 tons. In flight the missile’s length is increased by a 2-metre aerospike, which reduces the missile’s frontal drag by about 50 per cent while in the earth’s atmosphere, greatly increasing its range.
During the tour of Complex 30, Admiral Benedict, recalling the Trafalgar Dinner the night before, says: ‘One of the things about the Royal Navy is your sense of history and tradition.’ He speaks as well about the mutuality of the special nuclear relationship: ‘I have a great appreciation for the partnership with the British. What we get out of it is a strong ally. What the British get out of the Polaris Sales Agreement is a very cost-effective relationship … But the thing I take away more than anything is the personal friendships.’ This is clearly true. The friendships are palpable, as is the long experience of working together. On DASOs the two navies are, to all intents and purposes, fused. Over the food at the Trafalgar Night Dinner, Captain Al Holt, the US Navy officer who will be on board Vigilant when the missile launches on Tuesday to give Mark Lister permission to fire and to validate the whole test operation, says: ‘It’s almost like a big brotherhood or a big family.’ He also reflects on the individuals who lead their crews: ‘Command is like a marathon. You mustn’t go out too fast or too slow … we try not to talk about submarine operations because our strength is in not being detected … The whole flavour of a crew reflects the personality of the Captain. All COs,’ says Holt, a veteran of Cold War operations, ‘are slightly micro-managers. If you don’t concentrate on certain things you’ll get buried. The hard part of submarining is figuring out what the information is telling you. Submariners concentrate on deficiencies. The submarine has tons of sensors, but it just gives you the data, not the answers. Sometimes it’s two dimensional in a three-dimensional world.’
These eve of test dinners are consumed with a frisson of anticipation. Will the weather hold? Will it all work? What will that Russian spy ship try and do? Rear Admiral Steve Lloyd, Mark Beverstock’s predecessor, has arrived. He was in charge of the 2009 DASO. We talk about the AGI before we sit down to eat:
Lloyd: ‘The Russians are showing us they’re back. They’re interested. They want to see if we’re still in business, viable.’
Hennessy: ‘So it’s a kind of attention-seeking behaviour?’
Lloyd: ‘Exactly. They fired two Bulavas [new submarine-launched intercontinental ballistic missiles] over the weekend.’
Speaking at the dinner is Jon Thompson, the recently appointed Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Defence (he had been its Director General Finance since 2008). The nuclear element, he says, ‘is the pinnacle of our relationship’.
By great good fortune Hennessy was sitting next to Franklin Miller, who received an honorary knighthood for his close and sustained contribution to the UK deterrent and from his seat in the Pentagon knows every person and every fibre involved in the transatlantic nuclear membrane. We talk of the debate gathering pace in the UK as we approach its general election in May 2015, which is certain to contain an element of nuclear discussion. One myth always features in such public debates – the belief that the US, as the provider of the D5 missile, could always prevent a release of it from a Royal Navy submarine if a US President believed a UK Prime Minister should not authorize it. Frank says there is no such capability: ‘If there was a switch the US could flick, I would have known about it,’ he says.
This is the night of the third and final presidential debate between President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney. The election is two weeks away. We have an insanely early start in the morning if we are to catch the United States Research Vessel Waters at Port Canaveral, which will carry us to the launch area, so the temptation to stay up and watch the showdown is resisted.
Tuesday, 23 October 2012, 4.45 a.m., Double Tree Hotel, Cocoa Beach
Rendezvous in the foyer. Everyone very jolly despite the hour.
Hennessy: ‘Will the SVR [Russian Overseas Intelligence Service] be on Cocoa Beach?’
Senior US Officer: ‘They will be there.’
5.30 a.m., the Waters
The Waters, technically known as the LASS [Launch Area Support Ship], is the huge surface vessel that watches over and measures all D5 launches, whether on this range or on the Pacific one off San Diego. The Waters is an old Cold Warrior. One of her jobs was to lay down the arrays that combined to operate the SOSUS system. The ship has been painted white since Hennessy was last on board in 2009. Numbers of guests are also greatly down this time. It’s an austerity DASO – the extras have been cut by between half and two thirds.
We’re welcomed aboard by Lieutenant Commander Mitch Puxley and we greet each other as old friends.73 We’re taken to the Waters’ lecture theatre for breakfast, briefings and a seminar as we sail slowly towards the launch area.
0600, the Waters casts off
The VIP and Media Communication manager of the DASO, Captain Paul Dailey, tells us there is a second Russian vessel following us now, an auxiliary rescue ship, or ARS [a posh name for a tug] which can also gather intelligence.
0630
Introductory briefing from Jack Spiller of the US Navy Department. Jack fired the first ever D5 in December 1986 – the one that went wrong, performing cartwheels above the USS Tennessee’s telemetry mast before being safely destroyed. Jack says the presence of the second Russian vessel explains ‘why there were so many Russian speakers in Walmart yesterday’. Jack has long experience in the business. ‘Deterrence works every day,’ he says. ‘If it ever has to be fired in anger it’s failed.’
0715
A second briefing from Commander Paul Nitz, US Navy. ‘The AGI is out there waiting for us. We’ve already visualized her. She played with us last week. The worst case is that she’ll get 7000 to 8000 yards in on Vigilant.’
Nitz is followed by Vigilant’s young, bright and sharp Intelligence Officer, who gives a rundown about our Russian watcher:
‘The Viktor Leonov, AGI – in common parlance, a spy ship, carries two thirty-millimetre weapons systems and air defence. She went through the English Channel. Fleet [Northwood] thought she might be going to Gibraltar. I always tend to be paranoid wondering if she would come with us. Lo and behold she did. We were expecting her to go on to Havana or Venezuela. On 27 September she was in Havana. Lovely satellite picture. When we came out of Kings Bay she was waiting for us. She tried to contact us calling herself the “Jacksonville Sheriff” [Jacksonville is a Florida port to the north of Cape Canaveral]. She definitely declared her intention to monitor the DASO. We’ve done enough to protect Vigilant’s signature. And the Waters has kept her off our backs. At the dress rehearsal [on Saturday, 20 October] she came out, made her presence known, did not interfere.’
1030
We move into our seminar. Hennessy opens with a historical look at ‘the long road to Successor’ and touches on the nature of the current UK debate about our possession of nuclear weapons and the prospect of May 2015 seeing a nuclear-infused general election. Discussion is followed by a fascinating presentation by Dr Brad Roberts, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Defense in the Pentagon and the leading figure in the Obama administration’s review of US nuclear posture, on notions of extended deterrence – in the Far East especially – in the twenty-first century.
1242
HMS Vigilant is some 2000 yards away from us and about to dive. Beyond Vigilant on the horizon is the Russian AGI with a US Coast Guard cutter close by it. We take it in turns to observe it through borrowed binoculars. The weather is fine for a launch (sea state 3). The temperature is in the seventies Fahrenheit. The water is a deep purply blue. For most of the afternoon the two US Coast Guard ships and their complement of Black Hawk helicopters attempt to prevent the Leonov from straying into the launch area. From the Waters we watch how this operation is played out. At one point, the two Coast Guard ships appear to be almost straddling the Russian spy ship as the Black Haw
ks fly overhead.
Later, from film taken on board HMS Vigilant, we can reconstruct what is happening a short distance away from us.
At around 1246 an alarm sounds three times in Vigilant’s control room:
‘Diving stations, diving stations, diving stations. All compartments close up, all compartments check communications with DCHQ on the DC Net.’
Commander Mark Lister, the CO: ‘XO, Captain, dive the submarine.’
Lt Commander David Fox, the XO: ‘Dive the submarines. Diving now, diving now, diving now. Open four, five and six main vents.’
The submarine dives slowly in order to keep the propulsor under water at about a degree and a half. Once the foreplanes bite, the submarine can go deeper. On passing 20 metres the crew check the six main hatches for leaks. There is still air trapped in the ballast tanks and the casing so the submarine goes through a process known as ‘rocking the bubble’ which allows the remaining air to escape. The main vents are then shut and the submarine levels out at the minimum safe depth, its telemetry mast still clearly visible on the surface.
1246
Vigilant starts venting at the rear. A minute later the front tanks vent. Mitch Puxley says: ‘Good. It’s on time. There’s always a bit of emotion.’ T hour is 2 p.m.
1249
The front of Vigilant’s fin slams into the Atlantic. Bright good conditions. ‘Pretty well perfect,’ says Mitch. ‘We’re now into the launch area, which is a box of ten square miles.’
1250
We learn that there’s going to be a twenty-minute delay for ‘deconflicting’ reasons. There are satellites up there which may collide with one of the D5s if it goes off at 1400. We learn later that it’s a Russian Soyuz 3 carrying people in it. If the D5 struck it there would be an international incident in technicolour.
1253
All we can see of Vigilant now is the telemetry mast with its red tip. A Black Hawk helicopter flies over it.
1300 on the Bridge of the Waters
The Russian AGI is starting to come in closer and is being shadowed at about 7 knots by the US Coastguard.
Paul Nitz says: ‘All I care about is the 5000 yards around the SSBN.’
The AGI is now just under seven miles away from Vigilant. Nitz says: ‘I’ve tried to talk to him but he won’t respond. I’ve been asking him to open up eight miles.’
Two minutes before the launch, Vigilant will send a signal to the Waters.
1313
Chat to the very affable Rear Admiral (Retired) John Butler of the US Navy. Like his friend Frank Miller (who is aboard Vigilant) John is one of the incarnations of the US–UK nuclear relationship. He now works for Lockheed Martin, which manufactures the D5. He’s seen many DASOs but, quite plainly, they still excite him. He has brought a beach chair on board and has set himself up in pole position to witness the shot. ‘It’s showtime,’ he says.
Those who have done DASOs before say this launch area, the Atlantic Range, is particularly tricky because the Gulf Stream in these waters is fast – moving at about 4 knots. So to get Vigilant into the near motionless hover before the launch requires some deft seamanship on the part of Commander Lister and his crew. Just before it happens, a white puff of smoke will appear to give us her exact location.
1355
Black Hawk helicopters circle over the launch area.
In Vigilant’s Control Room, Commander Lister is sitting in front of the launch panel. He has a headset on which allows him to talk to the rest of the submarine. He scribbles in a notebook every few seconds. At T minus 20 minutes he takes Vigilant to action stations:
Commander Lister: ‘WEO, instrumentation, this is command, tube one is released.’
Range: ‘Weapon system is in condition one SQ for tube one for DASO launch, WEO, command, roger.’
The range has given the OK, it is clear to launch. SP205 is the senior American onboard Vigilant:
SP205: ‘Command 205, roger, Final T zero prediction is valid.’
Commander Lister: ‘Final T zero, command is valid, 205 command, roger. 205 command, all launch prerequisites have been met.’
SP205: ‘Very well, SP205 concurs.’
Commander Lister: ‘SP205 concurs, 205, roger.’
In the Missile Control Centre, Lieutenant Commander David O’Connor, sits holding the trigger in his hand. He says: ‘Supervisor, WEO, initiate fire one, denote one.’
Denote means that information is being passed to the missile. This takes around thirty seconds.
1420
It’s happening. Jinks sees the warning puff of white smoke.
Back in Vigilant’s Control Room Commander Lister inserts his key into the launch panel and turns it: ‘WEO, Command, you have permission to fire.’
He picks up the intercom and speaks to the submarine: ‘The WEO has my permission to fire. One in denote T minus one minute and counting. Ten seconds.’
In the Missile Control Centre there is complete silence. David O’Connor is still holding the trigger in his hand. He waits and then pulls the red button on the black Colt 45 and says: ‘One away!’ There is a loud thud and the submarine vibrates.
Back in the Control Room Lister says: ‘Missile away.’
On the surface, we see a huge eruption of white smoke as the missile emerges from the sea in its envelope of steam and gas. It pauses, drops a little, its motor ignites, it moves sideways lest a calamity occurs and it falls back on Vigilant and then a brilliant white light dominates the skyline, the D5’s motor ignites and with an intensely bright tail of yellow-orange flame it soars off into the sky.
There is a pause of a few seconds and the roar of the launch carries across two and a half miles of Atlantic Ocean and envelops the watchers on the Waters. Spontaneous applause erupts from all the decks.
Through a gap in the cloud we see the first stage of the missile fall away against the light-blue sky. The D5 is well on its way. Its flight will take about thirty-four minutes and stretch about 4000 miles away down into the South Atlantic.
1420–1421 HMS Vigilant
Commander Lister is sitting in his chair holding a black telephone, speaking to the submarine: ‘LASS is receiving telemetry. Telemetry looks good.’
An American voice comes over the radio: ‘This is SST, Permission to Fire is removed. First Stage Separation. Missile is on trajectory. Nose fairing ejection. Missile is on trajectory.’
Lister: ‘Stand by Second Stage Separation. Second Stage Separation. Missile is on trajectory.’
Within about two minutes, after the third-stage motor has ignited, the missile is travelling in excess of 6000 metres per second (13,500 miles per hour – nearly ten times faster than Concorde).
Back on board Vigilant, SP205 says: ‘Command 205, there will not be a second T zero.’
Lister: ‘There will not be a second T zero. 205 Command, Roger.’
It’s all over very quickly. Vigilant’s crew starts carrying out a number of tests and drills before surfacing. The missile is still in flight. Once the boost phase is complete the laws of ballistics take over. While in the upper atmosphere the equipment section is deployed. It orients itself to view the stars and corrects its trajectory path. For each re-entry body, the process is repeated as the section thrusts, and reorients to achieve proper deployment conditions. Each re-entry body then reenters the atmosphere and splashes down at its designated target, in this case at the end of the test range off the west coast of Africa.
1425, the Waters
Two Black Hawks in tight formation circle low and roar overhead.
1436
Vigilant’s fin appears, with a Black Hawk over her.
1440
The Black Hawks fly above us once more as if in a victory parade.
1535
We’re proceeding in parallel with Vigilant back to Port Canaveral. Even on the surface Vigilant is swifter than the Waters so a gap is opening up.
Paul Nitz comes down from the bridge to tell us that after the shot the AGI called
Vigilant on Channel 16 (which vessels of all kinds use to talk to each other) with a message of congratulation in English from her skipper in a heavy Russian accent out of central casting.
‘Bravo November this is Russian Warship. We sincerely congratulate crew of your ship with the successful completion of the Ballistic Missile Trident II launch exercise. We also would like to thank United States Navy Research Vessel Waters and Coast Guard Ship and Helicopter for very well-skilled manoeuvring. This is Russian Warship … Out!’
One of the US VIPs aboard Vigilant, a Russian-speaking lady from the State Department, offered to reply in Russian. But Mark Lister decided not to reply and the Silent Service lived up to its name.
There’s much talk of the significance of the Russian presence. We learn later that the Viktor Leonov had intruded about 500 yards into the launch area and the two US Coastguard cutters had to break the rules of the sea by interposing themselves in a way that risked being rammed. It was assumed afterwards that the AGI would return to Havana. In fact, Hurricane Sandy was preparing for its assault on the US eastern seaboard. The spy ship sought and was granted permission to put into Jacksonville. One gentlemanly act plainly deserved another.