Minuteman ICBMs Soldier on As Peacekeepers Get Mothballed

American Forces Press Service ^ | March 26, 2004 | By Gerry J. Gilmore

[Frohickey]

Maybe the Taiwanese would like to have one of our used Peacemaker 'MX' missiles. ;)

[Monty22]

"As fate would have it, I was privy to information regarding the imminence of the threat. It was very real, and we are lucky to be here talking about it in historical terms. "


Can you elaborate? What was your position, if you can say.. Also, just how close were we? Was it that we'd bolt-from-the-blue them, or either way?

[RightWhale]

For total destruction of a large area target, several smaller devices are superior to a single large one.

[Imal]

It was wrong for me to post that, because I really can't legally elaborate on it, so just assume that I'm some pretentious crackpot whacko and you're probably closer to the truth anyway. :^)

But, speaking as a pretentious crackpot whacko, I can tell you in all seriousness that we really did come much, much closer to virtual extinction than most people will ever know or believe, or want to know or believe.

I thank God again and again that the Cold War ended the way it did, instead of the way it was going to.

Although it took the efforts of millions of Americans to save our species, I must ultimately credit one man for our survival: President Ronald Wilson Reagan. I will never forget the things I witnessed, nor the things he did to save humanity.

His greatness transcended mere politics.

[kimosabe31]

"Although it took the efforts of millions of Americans to save our species, I must ultimately credit one man for our survival: President Ronald Wilson Reagan. I will never forget the things I witnessed, nor the things he did to save humanity."

Absolutely right Imal. We dodged a bullet during the "window of vulnerability" of he late 70's and early 80's created by...you guessed it...jimmy carter. Some will undoubtedly say "there he goes, blaming the democrats for everything".

Few people realize however that early in the carter administration, jimmy appointed the head of IBM (a guy named Watson) as his ambassador to Moscow in order to facilitate the sale of US supercomputer technology to the Russkies...a caper very similar to clinton's sale of highly classified nuke and missile technology to the chicoms in exchange for bribe money.

So what!! some will say. The significance is that...within the next few years...toward the end of "little jimmie's" administration, the russkies assisted by "little jimmie's" supercomputer technology were able to improve their ballistic missile targeting accuracy by a factor of ten.

So what!! some will say. The answer is that this technological breakthrough transformed the soviet ballistic missile fleet from a counter-terror weapon against enemy cities into a first strike threat against our land-based Minuteman force...a destabilizing factor that encouraged the soviets to excercise their advantage while they had it...a window of US vulnerability. Needless to say, countermeasures to plug the jimmy carter "window of vulnerability" were at the top of the Reagan Administration priority list: B1 Bomber, Peacekeeper Missile and Space Defense...all much ballyhood by libs and mainstream media.

Forgive the lengthy anecdote, but it is a classic illustration and proof positive of the fact that libs...left unchecked in total control...will destroy civilization.

[ReignOfError]

For total destruction of a large area target, several smaller devices are superior to a single large one.

The same is true of missiles fired at us as well as fired by us, which is why there was a treaty.

It's a bit of a tangent, but has anyone heard about the possibility of converting the Peacemakers into launch vehicles? That's what they did with the decomissioned Titans, and I think they're about to or have recently run out of those.

[RightWhale]

Seems like something an amateur rocket enthusiast might want to do. The rockets would have to be surplus and not subject to destruction under SALT, plus the systems would have to be under current support.

[ReignOfError]

All true. And I suspect that it would depend on the specifics of the treaty, which may or may not require making the rockets inoperable.

Titan was a great, reliable satellite booster, but I think they were retired as ICBMs due to obsolecence, not treaty obligations. Still, it'd be a pity if a capable launch vehicle were scrapped because we couldn't find a way to convince the Russians they're not weapons any more. Especially when we're hard up enough for heavy lifting craft to rent space from Russia.

[ArrogantBustard]

You can't really use a Peacekeeper unless you have ten legitimate targets that need to be nuked. The Peacekeeper was designed to deliver a massive, tens-to-hundreds of targets second strike against the USSR.

The Minuteman was originally designed to carry 3 warheads, now carries only one. That means if you have one, single target that needs to be nuked the Minuteman is just the thing. The Minuteman is a more credible threat, because it's more usable.

[RightWhale]

In related news, the ABM system at Greely was tested today. They fired a missile at the system, and the system picked it up and generated a firing solution. No interceptor was fired. The 7th interceptor was lowered into its silo this month.

[ArrogantBustard]

but I think they were retired as ICBMs due to obsolecence

Titan was liquid fueled. Minuteman, Peacekeeper, and Trident are all solid fuel. The Titan fuel, while storable, is nasty stuff (NO₄/Hydrazine). And the heavy lift was rendered unnecessary by improvements in accuracy and the resulting decrease in warhead size. The Titan warhead was a single 9MT device, and was hugely heavy. The Minuteman, Peacekeeper, and Trident warheads are all sub-megaton.

[ReignOfError]

Titan was liquid fueled. Minuteman, Peacekeeper, and Trident are all solid fuel. The Titan fuel, while storable, is nasty stuff (NO4/Hydrazine). And the heavy lift was rendered unnecessary by improvements in accuracy and the resulting decrease in warhead size. The Titan warhead was a single 9MT device, and was hugely heavy. The Minuteman, Peacekeeper, and Trident warheads are all sub-megaton.

Which, I suppose, would make the Peacekeeper a poor candidate for a satellite booster, since it was designed to carry a relatively light payload.

The Titan II is the only ICBM I've seen up close, one in a silo preserved as a museum in Arizona, and several stacked like cordwood at Davis-Monthan for future use as launch vehicles.

[ArrogantBustard]

Actually, Peacekeeper is a fairly heavy lifter ... It's designed to carry ten warheads, plus the bus and dispenser. They're small (relatively) but they add up. I've not heard one way or another if they're planning to "dispose" of the Peacekeepers by converting them to launch vehicles, but in my unprofessional opinion it might not be a bad idea.