Missile launch facility
A missile launch facility, also known as an underground missile silo, launch facility (LF), or nuclear silo, is a vertical cylindrical structure constructed underground, for the storage and launching of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), intermediate-range ballistic missiles (IRBMs), medium-range ballistic missiles (MRBMs). Similar facilities can be used for anti-ballistic missiles (ABMs).
The structures typically have the missile some distance below ground, protected by a large "blast door" on top. They are usually connected, physically and/or electronically, to a missile launch control center.
With the introduction of the Soviet UR-100 and the U.S. Titan II missile series, underground silos changed in the 1960s. Both missile series introduced the use of hypergolic propellant, which could be stored in the missiles, allowing for rapid launches. Both countries' liquid-fueled missile systems were moved into underground silos. The introduction of solid fuel systems, in the later 1960s, made the silo moving and launching even easier.[1]
The underground missile silo has remained the primary missile basing system and launch facility for land-based missiles since the 1960s. The increased accuracy of
Other than underground facilities, ballistic missiles can be launched from above-ground facilities, or can be launched from mobile platforms, e.g. transporter erector launchers, railcars, ballistic missile submarines or airplanes.
Nazi Germany
The
Following repeated heavy bombing by Allied forces during Operation Crossbow, the Germans were unable to complete construction of the works and the complex never entered service. The United Kingdom conducted post-war investigations, determining that it was "an assembly site for long projectiles most conveniently handled and prepared in a vertical position".[2]
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1944 conjectural reconstruction of the rocket preparation chamber and tunnels (on the assumption that A4 rockets were to be handled).
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Impression of a V2 in the assembly hall at Éperleques.
United States
The British idea of an underground missile silo was adopted and developed by the United States for missile launch facilities for its intercontinental ballistic missiles. Most silos were based in
The United States built many missile silos in the Midwest, away from populated areas. Many were built in Colorado, Nebraska, South Dakota, and North Dakota. The U.S. spent considerable effort and funds in the 1970s and 1980s designing a replacement, but none of the new and complex system designs were ever produced.
The United States has many silo-based warheads in service, however, they have lowered their number to around 1800 and have transferred most of their missiles to nuclear submarines and are focusing on more advanced conventional weapons.
Today they are still used, although many have been decommissioned and hazardous materials removed. The increase of decommissioned missile silos has led governments to sell some of them to private individuals. Some buyers convert them into unique homes, advanced safe rooms, or use them for other purposes. They are popular sites of urban exploration.
Atlas facilities
The
- The first version were vertical and above-ground launchers, at Vandenberg Air Force Base on the Central Coast of California.
- The second version were stored horizontally in a shed-like structure with a retractable roof, to then be raised to the vertical and launched, at Francis E. Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming.
- The third version were stored horizontally, but better protected in a concrete building known as a "coffin", then raised to the vertical shortly before launch. These rather poorly protected designs were a consequence of the cryogenic liquid fuels used, which required the missiles to be stored unfueled and then be fueled immediately prior to launch.
- The fourth version were stored vertically in underground silos, for the Atlas F ICBM. They were fueled in the silo, and then since they could not be launched from within the silo, were raised to the surface to launch.
In 2000 William Leonard Pickard and a partner were convicted, in the largest lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) manufacturing case in history, of conspiracy to manufacture large quantities of LSD in a decommissioned SM-65 Atlas missile silo (548-7) near Wamego, Kansas.[5]
Titan facilities
The
Notable accidents:
- Fire in Titan II silo 373-4 – 1965 Searcy missile silo fire
- Titan II explosion in silo 374-7 – 1980 Damascus Titan missile explosion
Minuteman facilities
The
The LGM-30 LFs and LCCs are separated by several miles, connected only electronically. This distance ensures that a nuclear attack could only disable a very small number of ICBMs, leaving the rest capable of being launched immediately.
Peacekeeper facilities
Dense Pack was a proposed configuration strategy for basing LGM-118 Peacekeeper ICBMs, developed under the Reagan administration, for the purpose of maximizing their survivability in case of a surprise nuclear first-strike on their silos conducted by a hostile foreign power. According to the Dense Pack strategy, a series of ten to twelve hardened silos would be grouped closely together in a line. The idea was that to disable the Dense Pack, the enemy would have to launch many missiles, and the missiles would arrive at different times. The missiles arriving later would have to pass through the debris cloud of the first missile's explosion, damaging the follow-up missiles and limiting their effectiveness. The proposed Dense Pack initiative met with strong criticism in the media and in the government, and the idea was never implemented.[6]
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Titan I missile complex.
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Titan I missile complex 2A.
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Titan II ICBM in 571-7 site silo.
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Titan-II ICBM silo test launch, Vandenberg Air Force Base.
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Minuteman I test silos at Edwards AFB.
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U.S.Minuteman IImissile being worked on, in its underground silo launch facility.
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U.S.Peacekeeper MXmissile launches from its underground silo launch facility.
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Minuteman III ICBM Launch Control Facility November-1.
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A Minuteman-III missile in its silo.
Soviet Union
The former Soviet Union had missile silos in Russia and adjacent Soviet states during the Cold War, such as the Plokštinė missile base in Lithuania. The Main Centre for Missile Attack Warning, near Solnechnogorsk outside Moscow, was completed by the Soviet Union in 1971, and remains in use by the Russian Federation.
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RT-23/SS-24 Molodets ICBM silo near Pervomaysk Ukraine.
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Plokštinė R-12 Dvina MRBM base.
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R-36 missile being lowered into a missile silo.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom did not have any silo ICBMs. During the 1960s several surface based erector launcher pads for Thor IRBMs were installed but were removed just a few years later when Blue Steel carrying V bombers came into service.
Russia
Russia has silo-based weapons. The
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Loading ICBM Topol-M into the launch silo.
France
France built missile silos for S-2 and S-3 IRBM on the Albion Plateau.[7] They were in service from 1971 to 1996.
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Missile silo cover at Sirene Observatory, Plateau d'Albion.
China
China has silo-based weapons, but is now concentrating development on expanding its submarine and road-capable mobile weapons, especially for tunnel networks.[8] Two silos fields appear to be under construction.[9]
India
India uses silos for a few of its long-range ballistic missile arsenal and storage, but most of its systems are road mobile capable.
Pakistan
Pakistan has built hard and deeply buried storage and launch facilities to retain a second strike capability in a nuclear war.[10]
North Korea
North Korea built a missile silo complex south of Paektu Mountain. The silos are reportedly designed for mid- to long-range missiles, but it is not clear if all of them are operational.[11]
Iran
Iran has silo-based weapons, having built a system of underground missile silos to protect missiles from detection and (above-ground) launch facilities from aerial destruction.[12][13]
Israel
It is believed that Israel has MRBM and ICBM launch facilities.
Museums
- Titan Missile Museum Titan II ICBM 571-7 site
- Minuteman Missile National Historic Site Minuteman II ICBM LCC + D-09 silo
- Quebec-One Missile Alert Facility Peacekeeper ICBM Q-01 site
- Ronald Reagan Minuteman Missile State Historic Site Minuteman II ICBM O-01 MAF + N-33 LF
- Strategic missile forces museum in Ukraine RT-23/SS-24 Molodets ICBM UCP + silo
- Plokštinė missile base R-12 Dvina MRBM base
- Nike Missile Site SF-88 Nike 2B/12H, 20A/8L-U ABM SF-88 site
- RSL-3 Safeguard Program Remote Sprint Launchers 3 site
See also
- Missile launch control center
- Cheyenne Mountain Complex
- Safeguard/Sentinel ABM system
- A-35 anti-ballistic missile system
- A-135 anti-ballistic missile system
- List of Nike missile sites
References
- ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "Пуск Ракеты "ЯРС" РС-24 The launch of a Rocket "YARS" RS -24". YouTube.
- ^ Sanders, Terence R. B. (1945). "Wizernes". Investigation of the "Heavy" Crossbow Installations in Northern France. Report by the Sanders Mission to the Chairman of the Crossbow Committee. III. Technical details.
- ^ "Minuteman Missiles on the Great Plain" (web). National Park Service. April 6, 2017. Retrieved February 21, 2019.
- ^ a b c Winkler, David F.; Lonnquest, John C. (November 1, 1996). "To Defend and Deter: The Legacy of the United States Cold War Missile Program". Archived from the original on April 17, 2019.
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(help) - ^ "Silo LSD". cjonline.com. September 2, 2001. Archived from the original on October 26, 2016.
- ^ Ed Magnuson; Neil MacNeil (December 20, 1982). "Dense Pack Gets Blasted". Time. Archived from the original (web) on June 12, 2010. Retrieved December 27, 2008.
- ^ "HISTOIRE DE MISSILES... LE 1er GMS DU PLATEAU D'ALBION". capcomespace.net. December 25, 2021.
- ^ Chosun.com (14 Dec. 2009)
- ^ Gan, Brad Lendon (28 July 2021). "China appears to be expanding its nuclear capabilities, US researchers say". CNN.
- ^ "World | Pakistan enhances second strike N-capability: US report". Dawn. Pakistan. Archived from the original on 21 July 2009. Retrieved 21 August 2010.
- ^ "North digs silos for missiles in Mt. Paektu area". JoongAng daily. 10 October 2013. Archived from the original on 7 April 2014. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
- ^ "Revealed: Iran's seven mountainside missile silos discovered in new satellite imagery". 6 May 2021. Retrieved 26 December 2021.
- ^ "Iran fires Ballistic Missiles from Underground Silos". 8 March 2016. Retrieved 26 December 2021.