Multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle

Three W-78/Mk-12A re-entry vehicles on a Rocketdyne RS-14 post-boost stage, the standard configuration of the Minuteman III. (Prohibited under START-2).

Testing of the LG-118A Peacekeeper re-entry vehicles, all eight fired from only one missile. Each line, were its warhead live, represents the explosive power of twenty-five Hiroshima-style weapons.

A multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicle, or MIRV, is one of a collection of nuclear weapons carried on a single intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) or a submarine launched ballistic missile (SLBM). Using MIRVs, a single launched missile can strike several targets, or fewer targets redundantly.

The military purpose of a MIRV is twofold.

• To reduce or eliminate the effectiveness of an anti-ballistic missile system that relies on intercepting individual warheads. While a MIRVed attacking missile can have multiple (3-12 on various US missiles) warheads, interceptors can only have one warhead per missile. Thus, in both a military and practical sense, MIRVs render ABM systems less effective, as the costs of maintaining a workable defense against MIRVs would grow astronomically, and would require multiple defensive missiles for each offensive one.
• To reduce the number of missiles required to carry out an attack. With single warhead missiles, one missile must be launched for each target. The post-boost stage (or bus) of a MIRV can dispense the warheads against multiple targets across a broad area.

See also:

• Multiple Reentry vehicle
• Peacekeeper missile
• Poseidon missile
• Trident missile

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