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In November 1962, the 455th Strategic Missile Wing was the fourth United States Air Force LGM-30 Minuteman ICBM wing, the third with the LGM-30B Minuteman I.In 1962 and 1963 150 missiles were deployed to silos controlled by three squadrons of 455th in North Dakota.
The 90th Strategic Missile Wing (SMW) was the fifth United States Air Force LGM-30 Minuteman ICBM wing to be created (the fourth with the LGM-30B Minuteman I). In October 1962, construction began over an 8,300-square-mile (21,000 km 2) area of Wyoming, Nebraska, and Colorado to build 200 Minuteman ICBM launch silos. On 1 July 1963, the Air ...
The first silo was imploded on 8 December 1993 and the last on 15 December 1997. Today, Whiteman AFB is the home of the 509th Bomb Wing and the B-2 Spirit Stealth Bomber. One of the retired Minuteman IBs is on display. In addition, the Oscar One (O-01) Missile Alert Facility (MAF) is now preserved as a museum.
These newer missiles were later deployed into modified Minuteman silos. The Minuteman II program was the first mass-produced system to use a computer constructed from integrated circuits (the Autonetics D-37C). The Minuteman II integrated circuits were diode–transistor logic and diode logic made by Texas Instruments.
A Minuteman wing consists of either three or four squadrons. Five flights comprise each squadron. Each flight directly controls ten Minuteman missiles remotely. Each flight is commanded from a Launch Control Center, or LCC. The Minuteman LCC is an underground structure of reinforced concrete and steel of sufficient strength to withstand weapon ...
LGM-30B Minuteman I, 1964–1974 LGM-30G Minuteman III, 1973–1987 LGM-118A Peacekeeper, 1987–2005 1964–2005 90th SMW/OG Only LGM-118A Peacekeeper squadron. With the deployment of the LGM-118A, 50 former Minuteman III silos were converted. Flights P through T were reassigned to the Peacekeeper for operational duty. 446th Missile Squadron
In July, the 490th SMS became fully operational, giving the 341st SMW responsibility for 150 silos. A fourth squadron, the 564th, a former SM-65D Atlas unit, stood up on 1 April 1966 with the LGM-30F Minuteman II. Beginning in 1967, all Minuteman I A and B models were replaced by the Minuteman II. The upgrade was completed by June 1969.
The facilities represent the only remaining intact components of a nuclear missile field that once consisted of 150 Minuteman II missiles, 15 launch-control centers, and covered over 13,500 square miles (35,000 km 2) of southwestern South Dakota. [4] The silo, known as launch facility Delta Nine (D-09) was constructed in 1963.