Are submarine launched ballistic missiles still inaccurate?

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Accepted answer

Ballistic missile delivery depends very much on knowing exactly where you are launching from. Early SLBM launch platforms had typical positional uncertainties of 100's of metres. As the missile and any MIRV warheads were just unguided projectiles launch positional errors magnified and the resultant destination error could be very wide.

Land based missiles were preferred as the launch position was known accurately but vulnerable to first force strikes.

Modern SLBM platforms know their position to some centimetres allowing better accuracy and reduced yields for smaller targets. Modern missiles can partially correct for early launch drift, first stage drift by star sight observation reducing the error probability at target by orders of magnitude.

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