LGM-118A
Peacekeeper
Unofficial
names/slang: n/a
Function:
Intercontinental ballistic missile
Date
deployed: December 1986
Contractor:
Boeing
Unit cost:
approx. $70,000,000
Length:
71' - 0"
Diameter:
7' - 8"
Speed:
approx. Approx. 15,000 mph (Mach 23) max.
Weight at
launch: 195,000 lbs
Guidance:
Inertial; integration by Boeing North American, IMU
by Northrop and Boeing North American
Range:
More than 6000 mi
Engine:
First three
stages - solid propellant; fourth stage - storable
liquid (by Thiokol, Aerojet, Hercules and
Rocketdyne)
Warhead:
(10) Avco MK21 re-entry vehicles |
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Mission:
The Peacekeeper missile is America's newest
intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). Its
deployment fulfilled a key goal of the strategic
modernization program and increased strength and
credibility to the ground-based leg of the U.S.
strategic triad.
With the end of the Cold War, the Department
of Defense has recommended the deactivation of the
Peacekeeper Weapon system beginning in fiscal 2003.
The United States has begun to revise its strategic
policy and review its nuclear posture.
Features: The Peacekeeper is capable of
delivering 10 independently targeted warheads with
greater accuracy than any other ballistic missile..
It is a four-stage rocket ICBM system consisting of
three major sections: the boost system, the
post-boost vehicle system and the re-entry system.
The boost system consists of four rocket
stages that launch the missile into space. These
rocket stages are mounted atop one another and fire
successively. Each of the first three stages
exhausts its solid propellant materials through a
single movable nozzle that guides the missile along
its flight path.
Following the burnout and separation of the
boost system's third rocket stage, the fourth stage
post-boost vehicle system, in space, maneuvers to
deploy the re-entry vehicles in sequence.
The post-boost vehicle system is the
Peacekeeper Stage IV that has a guidance and control
system and re-entry system. The post-boost vehicle
rides atop the boost system, weighs about 2,500
pounds (1,333 kilograms) and is 3.5 feet (1.07
meters) long.
The top section of the Peacekeeper is the
re-entry system. It consists of the deployment
module, up to 10 cone-shaped re-entry vehicles and a
protective shroud. The shroud protects the re-entry
vehicles during ascent. It is topped with a nose
cap, containing a rocket motor to separate it from
the deployment module.
The deployment module provides structural
support for the re-entry vehicles and carries the
electronics needed to activate and deploy them. The
vehicles are covered with material to protect them
during re-entry through the atmosphere to their
targets and are mechanically attached to the
deployment module. The attachments are unlatched by
gas pressure from an explosive cartridge broken by
small, exploding bolts, which free the re-entry
vehicles, allowing them to separate from the
deployment module with little disturbance. Each
deployed re-entry vehicle follows a ballistic path
to its target.
Background: The Air Force successfully
conducted the first test flight of the Peacekeeper
June 17, 1983, from Vandenberg Air Force Base,
Calif. The missile traveled 4,190 miles (6,704
kilometers) before dropping six unarmed test reentry
vehicles in the Kwajalein Missile Test Range in the
Pacific Ocean.
The first two test phases consisted of 12 test
flights to ensure the Peacekeeper's subsystems
performed as planned, and to make final assessments
of its range and payload capability. The missile was
fired from above-ground canisters in its first eight
tests. Thereafter, test flights were conducted from
test launch facilities reconfigured to simulate
operational Peacekeeper sites.
The Air Force achieved initial operational
capability of 10 deployed Peacekeepers at F.E.
Warren AFB, Wyo., in December 1986. Full operational
capability was achieved in December 1988 with the
establishment of a squadron of 50 missiles.
The Air Force Materiel Command's Ballistic
Missile Office (now inactivated) began full-scale
development of the Peacekeeper in 1979. This
organization, formerly located at San Bernardino,
Calif., integrated the activities of more than 27
civilian contractors and numerous subcontractors to
develop and build the Peacekeeper system.
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