Why Nuclear Weapon Convoys?

A Deadly Cargo

A nuclear weapon convoy is a cluster of vehicles travelling by road in convoy formation. It can be:

Nuclear warhead carrier
Nuclear warhead carrier
Credit:fototruck.com
  • Carrying Trident nuclear warheads
  • Travelling empty to collect or having unloaded nuclear warheads
  • Engaged in an exercise simulating the transport of warheads
  • En route to or from an accident & emergency exercise on a military base.

The Trident warheads are carried in large crates inside the green trucks. They are fully assembled and complete. The core of the warhead is a ball of plutonium and uranium. This is surrounded by specially developed conventional high explosives which would be ignited to create the critical mass necessary for a nuclear detonation when launched and targeted.

As well as the nuclear warhead convoys there are other nuclear transports on the roads - Special Nuclear Materials (SNM) convoys which have blue carriers rather than green. They have a smaller escort, travel faster at 60mph and do not use north eastern routes.