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Deterrent to Strategic War
Strategic Weapons Facility Atlantic, or SWFLANT, provides strategic missiles and strategic weapons system support to the fleet ballistic missile submarine fleet.
It also provides support for recently reconfigured guided missile submarines, which carry Tomahawk Cruise Missile.
SWFLANT is responsible for assembling the D-5 missile and processing missile guidance and launcher subsystem components. Components are shipped to Kings Bay from more than 1,800 suppliers and subcontractors throughout the country.
The command maintains a work force of approximately 100 military personnel, 178 government employees, 900 Security Force Personnel, and more than 604 contractors. SWFLANT's contractors include Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Northrop-Grumman, General Dynamics, BAE, CSI, ALUTIIQ, and SPA. The work force consists of engineers, administration and management personnel, supply and accounting technicians, maintenance personnel, equipment operators, and safety and quality assurance specialists.
Construction of the 24 buildings in the SWFLANT complex began in 1985 and was completed in 1994. The facilities include administration buildings, supply warehouses, a calibration laboratory, processing buildings (including two missile assembly buildings), two vertical missile packaging buildings (where the D-5 missile is made ready for delivery to the submarine), inspection buildings, and explosive handling wharves, referred to as EHWs.
EHW-1, which is 144 feet tall, is the tallest building in Camden County and rises at its pinnacle to 161 feet above the water. A second EHW was completed in 1994.
In addition, SWFLANT has 66 missile motor magazines and four small ordnance magazines in its 800-acre complex for storage of rocket motors, missiles, and other ordnance components.
The D-5 missile has three rocket motor stages powered by solid-fuel propellant and weighs more than 130,000 pounds. The D-5 is the latest in a line of fleet ballistic missiles, which began with the Polaris A-1 in 1960. The D-5 has a greater range, payload, and accuracy than its predecessors, since it incorporates many state-of-the-art technological advances in electronics and rocketry.
The D-5 is the heart of the Trident weapons system, which also includes the submarine, support equipment, and shore facilities. The system is designed to be America's sea borne deterrent to strategic war.
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Submarine Ballistic Missiles
The above display represents the history of America's submarine ballistic missile program. The first, the Polaris A-1 (left), and the current D-5 ballistic missile (foreground) have served as the nation's sea borne deterrent to strategic war. The command also supports the Navy's Tomahawk Cruise Missile program.