Weapons & delivery systems
MIRV
Multiple Independently-targetable Reentry Vehicle — a single missile carrying several warheads, each able to strike a different target.
MIRV technology, deployed from the early 1970s, allows one ICBM or SLBM to deliver up to 8-10 warheads on different targets. [1, 2, 3] This was originally a counter-ABM measure but became the dominant warhead-multiplier in Cold War arsenals. New START limits MIRV deployments by warhead count, not by missile.
Sources
- 1.Source: US Air Force, LGM-30G Minuteman III fact sheet — retrieved Oct 2026
- 2.Source: Federation of American Scientists / Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, United States nuclear weapons, 2025 (Nuclear Notebook PDF) — retrieved Oct 2026
- 3.Source: Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists / FAS, Russian nuclear weapons, 2026, Table 1 (May 2026) — retrieved Oct 2026
Related terms
ICBM (Intercontinental Ballistic Missile)
A long-range ballistic missile (range > 5,500 km) designed to deliver nuclear warheads between continents.
SLBM (Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missile)
A ballistic missile launched from a submerged submarine, providing a survivable second-strike nuclear capability.
Warhead
The explosive payload of a missile, bomb, or other weapon system; for nuclear weapons, the package containing the fissile or fusion material.