Saturday, January 19, 2013

U.S. Air Force Wants Options On Where Will They Base Their Future ICBMs



“Son of MX” Basing Schemes On List Of Future Air Force ICBM Options -- Mark Thompson, Battleland/Time

The Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center is seeking industry guidance on replacing the nation’s current fleet of 450 Minuteman III land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles sprinkled across Montana, North Dakota and Wyoming with…a new fleet of intercontinental ballistic missiles.

The center’s recent ruminations about the best way to base the new ICBM fleet bring back the glorious MX missile debates of the 1980s:

– Should we put our new ICBM fleet on trucks known as transporter erector launchers (TELs)? “The TEL must have the capability to leave government land to increase survivability, if required,” the Air Force says. “Survivability is a function of system hardness and mobility; therefore, a key feature will be the speed at which the TEL can depart the operating base when required.”

Read more ....

My Comment: Lay all the options that they want .... but I suspect that with defense budget cutbacks in the forecast .... future basing schemes will be based more on what can we afford over what do we want.

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