Monday, September 26, 2016

U.S. To Replace Its ICBM Force

An unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile launches during an operational test from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California at 11:01 p.m. on February 25, 2016. REUTERS/Ian Dudley/U.S. Air Force photo/Handout via Reuters

Military.com/AFP: US Air Force Set to Replace Intercontinental Nuke Arsenal

Hidden underground in steel-and-concrete silos across rural America, more than 400 intercontinental ballistic missiles point to the skies, poised for launch -- and ready to obliterate cities across the world.

First designed in the 1960s at the height of the Cold War, the Minuteman nuclear weapons are starting to show their age, and replacement parts are difficult to find for the weapons designed in an analog age.

Also aging are their silos, many built in the 1950s and now rusting as water seeps through the decaying concrete.

Over the next 20 years, the U.S. Air Force will switch out the entirety of its Minuteman III fleet with an as-yet-unnamed new missile known only as the Ground Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD).

Read more ....

WNU Editor: This is interesting .... Pentagon chief is expert on nukes but says little about them (US News and World Report/AP).

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Something tells me that when the dust settles the old ones will be much more reliable than the new ones...hope we don't find out.