"MINUTEMAN III" ICBM

Boeing LGM-30G "Minuteman III" ICBM 

Photos   Boeing LGM-30G "Minuteman III" ICBM Download HiRes

Propulsion:  Three solid-propellant rocket engines; first, second and third stages of 200,000, 60,600 and 34,000 pounds of thrust, respectively
Diameter:   6 ft at widest point
Length:   59 ft 10 in 
Weight:   78,000 lbs (at launch) 
Speed:   15,000 mph (max)
Range:   Over 8,000 miles
Service Ceiling:   700 miles
Armament:   Nuclear warheads
Cost:   $1,818,000

Even before the first LGM-30F Minuteman II had been deployed, work was already underway on the ultimate version of the missile, the LGM-30G Minuteman III. 

The Autonetics and Rocketdyne Divisions of North American Rockwell had joined forces in 1964 to create a post-boost propulsion system for correcting the altitude, attitude, and velocity of the reentry vehicle after separation from the third stage. This new innovation used an advanced guidance and control system, a restartable liquid-fueled rocket motor, and three Multiple Independently-targeted Reentry Vehicles (MIRVs), each with its own nuclear warhead, to allow one Minuteman missile to attack three independent targets with extreme accuracy. 

The first Minuteman III launch came in August 1968 and the first silo launch came on April 11, 1969. The first emplacement was in April 1970 and deployment ended in July 1976. Production of the Minuteman III ICBM ended on January 14, 1977.  A total of 550 of the missiles were originally deployed. 

To improve the Minuteman III system's capabilities even further, an upgrade was undertaken in the 1970s simultaneously with the development of the Martin Marietta LGM-118A Peacekeeper ICBM. Some have called these updated LGM-30G missiles the "Minuteman IV," but the official designation was never changed. The upgrades improved the aiming accuracy of the missile. 

Another improvement program in the 1980s fitted more powerful warheads to the missile. Other improvements, such as the Airborne Launch and Control System based on the EC-135 and E-6B aircraft, were fitted to the entire Minuteman fleet during the 1980s to make the force more reliable and survivable in the event of a nuclear attack on the United States. Test flights were also made in which a Minuteman III carried seven MIRVs aloft instead of three, but that change was never implemented in the fleet. 

As the Logistics System Program Manager for the nation's entire ICBM force, the Ogden Air Logistics Center at Hill AFB had a close working relationship with all ICBM systems, including the Minuteman family. On January 6, 1959 the base was assigned the management of the SM-80 Minuteman ICBM program. Later that year construction began on Air Force Plant 77 in the West Area of the base. This facility would be owned by the Air Force and operated by Boeing, and would be the final assembly and recycling point for all Minuteman missiles. From here all operational missiles would be delivered to their launch sites by either truck, rail, or air transportation. 

In November 1962 the first air shipment of a Minuteman took place when a C-133 transported a missile from Hill to its launching site at Malmstrom AFB, Montana. In January 1963 the first Minuteman missile to be repaired at AF Plant 77 was completed. 

In July 1965 the Ogden Air Materiel Area assumed complete logistics management for the entire Minuteman I missile force, all 800 missiles operated by the Strategic Air Command. The following month the first Minuteman II came off the AF Plant 77 assembly line. In January 1966 USAF officials dedicated the $12.5 million Minuteman Missile Engineering Test Facility at Hill, the first and only complete system engineering test facility for an operational missile in the USAF inventory. In June 1967 groundbreaking was held for a new $16.5 million Minuteman II Engineering Test Facility. 

On June 26, 1968 the first Minuteman III training missile was shipped from AF Plant 77 to the Boeing Company in Seattle for acceptance testing and check out. This was the lead item in the Minuteman III program. In April 1970 the first operational LGM-30G to be airlifted out of Hill left aboard a C-141. In July 1975 Hill personnel on temporary duty at Malmstrom AFB, Montana, completed installation of the Minuteman III fleet. 

Air Force Plant 77 closed on November 30, 1978. As part of the closing ceremonies, representatives of the Air Force accepted the last production Minuteman III missile. 

LGM-30G MINUTEMAN III

Minot AFB, ND

Photos 1 of 4 The LGM-30G Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missile, or ICBM, is an element of the nation's strategic deterrent forces under the control of the Air Force Global Strike Command.

Mission
The LGM-30G Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missile, or ICBM, is an element of the nation's strategic deterrent forces under the control of the Air Force Global Strike Command. The "L" in LGM is the Department of Defense designation for silo-launched; "G" means surface attack; and "M" stands for guided missile.

Features
The Minuteman is a strategic weapon system using a ballistic missile of intercontinental range. Missiles are dispersed in hardened silos to protect against attack and connected to an underground launch control center through a system of hardened cables. Launch crews, consisting of two officers, perform around-the-clock alert in the launch control center.

A variety of communication systems provide the president and secretary of defense with highly reliable, virtually instantaneous direct contact with each launch crew. Should command capability be lost between the launch control center and remote missile launch facilities, specially configured E-6B airborne launch control center aircraft automatically assume command and control of the isolated missile or missiles. Fully qualified airborne missile combat crews aboard airborne launch control center aircraft would execute the president's orders.

An extensive life extension program was implemented to keep the remaining missiles safe, secure and effective well into the 21st century. Updates to major programs include: remanufacture of the solid-propellant rocket motors, replacement of standby power systems, repair of launch facilities, and installation of updated, survivable communications equipment and additional security enhancements, improvements to missile alert facilities.

Background
The Minuteman weapon system was conceived in the late 1950s and Minuteman I was deployed in the early 1960s. Minuteman was a revolutionary concept and an extraordinary technical achievement. Both the missile and basing components incorporated significant advances beyond the relatively slow-reacting, liquid-fueled, remotely-controlled intercontinental ballistic missiles of the previous generation. From the beginning, Minuteman missiles have provided a quick-reacting, inertially guided, highly survivable component to America's strategic deterrent program. Minuteman's maintenance concept capitalizes on high reliability and a "remove and replace" approach to achieve a near 100 percent alert rate.

Through state-of-the-art improvements, the Minuteman system has evolved to meet new challenges and assume new missions. Modernization programs have resulted in new versions of the missile, expanded targeting options, improved accuracy and survivability. Today's Minuteman weapon system is the product of almost 40 years of continuous enhancement.

The current Minuteman force consists of 450 Minuteman III's located at the 90th Missile Wing at F.E. Warren AFB, Wyo.; the 341st Missile Wing at Malmstrom AFB, Mont.; and the 91st Missile Wing at Minot AFB, N.D.

General Characteristics
Primary Function: Intercontinental ballistic missile
Contractor: Boeing Co.
Power Plant: Three solid-propellant rocket motors; first stage - Thiokol; second stage - Aerojet-General; third stage - United Technologies Chemical Systems Division
Thrust: First stage, 202,600 pounds
Length: 59.9 feet (18 meters)
Weight: 79,432 pounds (32,158 kilograms)
Diameter: 5.5 feet (1.67 meters)
Range: 6,000-plus miles (5,218 nautical miles)
Speed: Approximately 15,000 mph (Mach 23 or 24,000 kph) at burnout
Ceiling: 700 miles (1,120 kilometers)
Date deployed: June 1970, production cessation: December 1978
Inventory: Active force, 450; Reserve, 0; ANG, 0


Minot Air Force Base Public Affairs Office
201 Summit Drive, Ste. 201
Minot AFB, ND 58705
(701) 723-6212; fax (701) 723-7395 Email: 5bw.pa.dl@minot.af.mil 

Can You Crack a Code?

Can You Crack a Code?
Try Your Hand at Cryptanalysis

04/02/13

The cryptanalysts in our FBI Laboratory are pros at code-cracking…but it has been a few years since we have challenged you to give it a go.

We’ve done it a bit differently this time around, creating our first dot code. Good luck!

To reveal the hidden message, click the link at the bottom of this page. But please don’t post or share the answer—let everyone have a chance to give the quiz a try.

To learn more about the types of ciphers and codes that terrorists, spies, and criminals use to conceal their communications, see the article “Analysis of Criminal Codes and Ciphers” from our Forensic Science Communications publication. You can also read about famous cases over the years in the article, “Code Breaking in Law Enforcement: A 400-Year History.”

And feel free to try your hand at our previous code quizzes:

December 2009		May 2009
December 2008		November 2007

See Answer

Resources:
- Cryptanalysis and Racketeering Records in the FBI Laboratory

The Great Cyprus Bank Robbery

Lake Jackson, Texas

The dramatic recent events in Cyprus have highlighted the fundamental weakness in the European banking system and the extreme fragility of fractional reserve banking. Cypriot banks invested heavily in Greek sovereign debt, and last summer's Greek debt restructuring resulted in losses equivalent to more than 25 percent of Cyprus' GDP. These banks then took their bad investments to the government, demanding a bailout from an already beleaguered Cypriot treasury. The government of Cyprus then turned to the European Union (EU) for a bailout.

The terms insisted upon by the troika (European Commission, European Central Bank, International Monetary Fund) before funding the bailout were nothing short of highway robbery. While bank depositors have traditionally been protected in the event of bankruptcy or liquidation, the troika insisted that all bank depositors pay a tax of between 6.75 and 10 percent of their total deposits to help fund the bailout.

While one can sympathize with EU taxpayers not wanting to fund yet another bailout of a poorly-managed banking system, forcing the Cypriot people to pay for the foolish risks taken by their government and bankers is also criminal. In their desire to punish a “tax haven” catering supposedly to Russian oligarchs, the EU elites ensured that ordinary citizens would suffer just as much as foreign depositors. Imagine the reaction if in September 2008, the US government had financed its $700 billion bank bailout by directly looting American taxpayers' bank accounts!

While the Cypriot parliament rejected that first proposal, they will have no say in the final proposal delivered by the EU and IMF: deposits over 100,000 euros are likely to see losses of at least 40 percent and possibly as much as 80 percent. “Temporary” capital controls that were supposed to last for days will now last at least a month and might remain in effect for years.

Especially affected have been the elderly, who were unable to use ATMs or to transfer money electronically. Despite the fact that ATMs severely limited the size of withdrawals during the two week-long bank closure, reports indicated that account holders who had access to Cypriot bank branches in London and Athens were able to withdraw most of their funds, leading to speculation that there would be no money available when banks finally opened up again. In other words, the supposed Russian oligarch money may well be already gone.

Remember that under a fractional reserve banking system only a small percentage of deposits is kept on hand for dispersal to depositors. The rest of the money is loaned out. Not only are many of the loans made by these banks going bad, but the reserve requirement in Euro-system countries is only one percent! If just one euro out of every hundred is withdrawn from banks, the bank reserves would be completely exhausted and the whole system would collapse. Is it any wonder, then, that the EU fears a major bank run and has shipped billions of euros to Cyprus?

The elites in the EU and IMF failed to learn their lesson from the popular backlash to these tax proposals, and have openly talked about using Cyprus as a template for future bank bailouts. This raises the prospect of raids on bank accounts, pension funds, and any investments the government can get its hands on. In other words, no one's money is safe in any financial institution in Europe. Bank runs are now a certainty in future crises, as the people realize that they do not really own the money in their accounts. How long before bureaucrat and banker try that here?

Unfortunately, all of this is the predictable result of a fiat paper money system combined with fractional reserve banking. When governments and banks collude to monopolize the monetary system so that they can create money out of thin air, the result is a business cycle that wreaks havoc on the economy. Pyramiding more and more loans on top of a tiny base of money will create an economic house of cards just waiting to collapse. The situation in Cyprus should be both a lesson and a warning to the United States. We need to end the Federal Reserve, stay away from propping up the euro, and return to a sound monetary system.

Ron Paul