Trident 2 Launched From Sub as Soviet Spies Watch

The crew of a nuclear submarine launched the Navy’s new Trident 2 missile on its first successful underwater test Wednesday, and the captain of a nearby Soviet spy ship radioed greetings.

“My best regards to the skipper of the sub,” the Soviet captain said. For years, Soviet spy ships have observed most launchings from Cape Canaveral.

The salute came after the 44-foot missile was launched by the submarine Tennessee, burst to the surface, ignited and propelled a dummy warhead to a target far down the Atlantic tracking range.

Greenpeace U.S.A. activists who oppose nuclear weapons at sea halted the test last Friday by sailing ships into the launch security zone, but stayed away Wednesday, saying they had made their point.

Rear Adm. Arlington Campbell, commander of Submarine Group 6, told reporters: “As far as we can tell from our telemetry, it was a totally nominal launch. From all indications, everything has been successful.”

The Navy did not disclose how far the warhead section traveled.

Each of the $23.7-million missiles is designed to propel as many as 12 nuclear warheads to different targets more than 4,600 miles away.

The results were in sharp contrast to the Trident 2’s first submarine launch on March 21, when the missile cartwheeled out of control and exploded four seconds after it was launched from the Tennessee.

Investigators said that failure was caused by a faulty mechanical linkage responsible for moving the rocket motor nozzles back and forth to control direction. The system was redesigned.