CHEVALINE FACT SHEET

By Cliff Lethbridge

Chevaline Launch, Photo Courtesy Royal Navy

Classification: Fleet Ballistic Missile

Note: Fleet Ballistic Missiles are also referred to as Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missiles

Length: 32 feet, 4 inches

Diameter: 4 feet, 6 inches

Range: 2,880 miles

Date of First Cape Canaveral Launch: September 12, 1977

Date of Final Cape Canaveral Launch: May 10, 1987

Number of Cape Canaveral Launches: 34

Chevaline is the British designation for a fleet of Polaris A3 missiles sold to Great Britain by the United States and styled for deployment on British submarines. Other than the fact that Chevaline is a British weapons program, Chevaline missiles are identical to the Polaris A3. Chevaline missiles underwent a variety of remanufacture and upgrades prior to being withdrawn from service in the mid 1980’s.