James Dunnigan writes:

In order to comply with EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) regulations, and at a cost of about $5.2 million per ICBM, the rocket motors on 500 Minuteman III missiles will be replaced with new ones. These rockets will emit less toxic chemicals when used. But the new, environmentally correct rockets will be heavier than the old ones, and will thus have a shorter range than the original motors. The actual range of the Minuteman III has been classified, but is thought to be nearly 10,000 kilometers, based on where the missiles are stationed and where the original Russian targets were. Thus, if the Minuteman III ICBMs have to be used in some future nuclear war, their rocket motors will not pollute the atmosphere. EPA regulations do not apply in foreign countries, so no changes are being made to reduce the harmful environmental effects of the nuclear warheads.

The air force has been replacing the decades old solid fuel rockets of its Minuteman III missiles for several years. Actually, a test of a 33 year old Minuteman I rocket motor showed that the motor (actually, a long tube full of slow burning explosives) still performed according to specification. But the rocket motors do degrade with age. The last of the Minuteman III missiles will receive their new motors by 2008. The Minuteman III guidance systems and control electronics, in the silo and launch center, are also being upgraded. The Minuteman III entered service in 1968, the Minuteman I did so in 1962, as the first solid fueled ICBM.

Finally, to comply with disarmament agreements, the Minuteman third stage, that contains three 440 pound nuclear weapons, will be replaced with a warhead containing one 600 pound nuclear weapon. The Minuteman III is 70 feet long, 5.5 feet in diameter and weighs 32 tons.

To help pay for the Minuteman III upgrade program, the more recent Peacekeeper (which entered service in 1986, as the ultimate Cold War era ICBM) will be retired. Only 23 Peacekeepers are still in service. The Peacekeeper is a four stage missile that carries ten warheads. The Peacekeeper is 71 feet long, 7.7 feet in diameter and weighs 88 tons. It had the same range as the Minuteman III, but greater accuracy. The refurbished Minuteman IIIs will have the same accuracy as the Peacekeeper. Because the Peacekeeper came into use just as the Cold War unexpectedly ended, only fifty were ever put into service. The upgraded Minuteman III is expected to remain in service until 2020, at which point it will be replaced by a new missile design. Current disarmament treaties have the United States reducing nuclear warheads getting below 2,200 in the next few years.

April 18, 2004