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Minuteman III launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on 9 February 2023.. The LGM-30 Minuteman is an American land-based intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in service with the Air Force Global Strike Command.
In November 1962, the 455th Strategic Missile Wing was the fourth United States Air Force LGM-30 Minuteman ICBM wing, the third with the LGM-30B Minuteman I. In 1962 and 1963 150 missiles were deployed to silos controlled by three squadrons of 455th in North Dakota.
Diagram depicting the different stages of a Minuteman III missile path from launch to detonation, as well as the different basic stages of the missile themselves. Based on information in TRW Systems. (2001) Minuteman Weapon System History and Description. Caption. The missile launches out of its silo by firing its 1st stage boost motor (A).
As personnel began to report to the 321st, the wing trained for the day when the Minuteman II missile would be placed on alert status. In August 1965, the 321st received its first Minuteman II missile, shipped by train from assembly plant 77 at Hill AFB, Utah. During the following March, the base received the first Minuteman II to be shipped ...
A fourth squadron, the 564th, a former SM-65D Atlas unit, stood up on 1 April 1966 with the LGM-30F Minuteman II. Beginning in 1967, all Minuteman I A and B models were replaced by the Minuteman II. The upgrade was completed by June 1969. In 1975, the 564th SMS switched from the Minuteman II to the LGM-30G Minuteman III model.
Under the START I treaty, the missiles were removed and the sites destroyed over the course of several years. The first silo was imploded on 8 December 1993 and the last on 15 December 1997. Today, Whiteman AFB is the home of the 509th Bomb Wing and the B-2 Spirit Stealth Bomber. One of the retired Minuteman IBs is on display.
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A Minuteman wing consists of either three or four squadrons. Five flights comprise each squadron. Each flight directly controls ten Minuteman missiles remotely. Each flight is commanded from a Launch Control Center, or LCC. The Minuteman LCC is an underground structure of reinforced concrete and steel of sufficient strength to withstand weapon ...