They're incredibly effective at hitting borderline third world countries
The russians americans and to a lesser extent the chinese/europeans have some defence against them, but you're talking about a 50%ish chance of shooting them down before they detonate.
(PsychoChomp, Wed 12 May 2010, 15:58, 2 replies, latest was 16 years ago)

The subs are so we can hide the nukes
otherwise if we don't get teh land based missles in the air by the time the enemy missles land they may be destroyed before we can fire back.

I think that sentance highlights the pointlessness of nukes.
( Naked Ape call me Caitlyn, Wed 12 May 2010, 16:10, Reply)

Is Trident not just submarine-launched ICBMs?
In which case, all you're gaining is slightly more surprise on a first launch (easier to monitor a land mass than all of the oceans, everywhere) and less chance of them being taken out if someone else shoots first.
(wellgroomedwookiee is a filthy-minded hobgoblin, Wed 12 May 2010, 16:10, Reply)

yep for ten times the cost.

(PsychoChomp, Wed 12 May 2010, 16:11, Reply)

Cheapest option would be a suitcase-nukes-and-suicidal-fanatics scheme.
I cannot see any flaws with this idea.
(wellgroomedwookiee is a filthy-minded hobgoblin, Wed 12 May 2010, 16:35, Reply)