Dark Earth: A New Jerusalem

British Strategic Targets:

USSR: 2648 warheads on 756 DSTs

184 Blue Streak ICBM
200 Black Arrow MRBM
120 White Knight MRBM
128 Red King GLCM

420 Green Knight SLBM (192 from 8 SSBN, 120 from 5 BBGN, 108 SLBM from 13 BBG)
72 gravity bombs from Supermarine Excaliburs

480 Blue Steel (80 Vulcans x 6 Blue Steel)
240 Grand Slams (60 Vulcans x 4 Grand Slams)
240 Skybolt (60 Vulcans x 4 Skybolt)
240 gravity bombs from 120 Vulcans

160 Blue Steel from 160 Vengeances
68 Blue Steel from 68 Vindicators

96 megaton shells from 24 atomic superguns


Eastern Europe: 884 warheads on 140 DSTs

100 Black Arrow MRBM
120 White Knight MRBM
72 Red King GLCM

144 Blue Steel (24 Vulcans x 6 Blue Steel)
144 Skybolt (24 Vulcans x 4 Skybolt)

160 gravity bombs/Blue Steel from 160 Vengeances
48 gravity bombs from 48 Valiants
72 gravity bombs from 36 Valiants

24 gravity bombs from Supermarine Excaliburs


China: 440 warheads on 187 DSTs

48 SLBM from 2 SSBN
16 SLBM from 2 BBG

16 Blue Streak ICBM
48 Skybolt ALBM (12 Vulcans x 4 Skybolt)
72 Blue Steel (12 Vulcans x 6 Blue Steel)
24 Red King GLCM

96 gravity bombs from 24 Vulcans
72 gravity bombs from 72 Valiants

24 gravity bombs from Supermarine Excaliburs

Turkey: 172 warheads on 69 DSTs

40 SLBM (24 from 1 SSBN, 16 from 2 BBG)

72 gravity bombs from 72 Valiants
48 gravity bombs from 24 Vulcans

Indonesia: 124 warheads on 42 DSTs

16 SLBM from 2 BBG
48 bombs from 48 Valiants,
24 gravity bombs from 24 Vulcans
12 Red King GLCM
24 Black Arrow MRBM

24 gravity bombs from Supermarine Excaliburs

Reserve:

120 Valiants
16 x Blue Steel Vulcans,
20 x Grand Slam Vulcans,
48 x gravity bomb Vulcans,
60 Vengeances

36 Black Arrow MRBM
96 Green Knight SLBM
50 Blue Streak ICBM


Notes:
- The Valiants are on their way out of the strategic game by 1967/68.
- Vulcan armament will change to reflect their stand-off role.
- The Pathfinders are designed to knock out every Soviet SAM site, radar, fighter field and associated target in Eastern Europe and the Western USSR.
- Battleship SLBMs are aimed mainly at the Kola Peninsula, Soviet northern flank and particularly to blow open a hole in Soviet arctic defences for SAC to break into Siberia.
- Submarine SLBMs are aimed at countervalue targets.
- The US has 254 DGZs in Moscow; Britain has 96.

- US targets are placed in three main axes: The big SAC path over the North Pole; the Western/European approach (itself split into the Mediterranean and Scandinavian routes) ; and the Eastern path in from the Pacific.
- British targets are primarily in the Western USSR, although the ICBMs have many Siberian targets.
- Australian Strategic weapons are aimed at Indonesia and China, South African weapons at Soviet Central Asia and Turkey and Canada has a big role in the Arctic and Soviet Far East, as well as certain Soviet missile fields in Siberia.
- Incorporating the French into this is very complex...

DGZ = Designated Ground Zero. Historically, SAC had 179 DGZs in Moscow in the late 1950s, so I've extrapolated up from that and incorporated allowance for nuclear SAMs and ABMs.

There would definitely be a lot of rubble bouncing going on; those who frequent the Naval Fiction Board on Warships1 might remember a WW3 short story where the Soviets cop it from all corners and there was a fair bit of fratricide of incoming weapons.

Currently, as of the end of 1964, for strategic range weapons French have 120 SLBMs on their 5 SSBNs; 78 ICBMs; and 196 heavy bombers. The rest of their 1268 weapons consist of 160 MRBMs (capable of hitting the western border area of the USSR) and 240 bombs for their medium bomber force; 240 SRBMs, 150 tactical nuclear bombs and 54 tactical nuclear shells; and 30 nuclear depth bombs.

That translates to 316 weapons to focus on the Western USSR and 78 long range missiles ranging out to the Urals. Of the latter, 12-18 could be assigned to give the French a piece of the action against Moscow.

   simon darkshade ,

Lordroel,

There is no need for a comparable method for missiles and bombers by virtue of their role. Land based missiles would be primarily launched in a first strike whilst bombers, by their very nature, retain a capacity to be deployed, redeployed or recalled whilst en route to their target.

The letters of last resort are a means of ensuring a retaliatory strike even in the case of a ‘bolt from the blue’ attack catching most of the British nuclear arsenal on the ground, so to speak. Even then, the use of global and airborne alert deployments make the bomber force difficult to completely write off and plans for Imperial deployment of Blue Streak would similarly complicate dealing with the ICBM force.

Simply, the letters are a fail-deadly methodology.

Think the Babylon Gun combined with other developments. They are large and immobile, positioned up the side of mountains.

They are spread between Scotland and Wales.

The Babylon Gun was intended to be mounted on a hillside at a 45 degree angle; I followed a similar solution here.