Are ICBMs Outdated?

"Since direct wartime nuclear operations against Russia alone, or Russia-China in combination, were Cold War scenarios that are no longer plausible, and since overflying Russia en route to more southerly targets (in China, North Korea, Iran) risks confusing Russia with ambiguous attack indications and triggering nuclear retaliation, the U.S. ICBM force has lost its central utility." - Global Zero U.S. Nuclear Policy Commission Report, May 2012, Pages 7-8

The missile test launched at 4:36 A.M.  on December 17, 2013 from Vanderburg Air Force Base in California. Photo via US Air Force.

The LGM-30G Minuteman III is an ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile) that can reach targets over 6,000 miles from launch. It weighs roughly 80,000 pounds and travels 15,000 miles per hour (Mach 23). According to the US Air Force, there are currently 450 Minuteman missiles in the US ICBM arsenal. There are a number of difficulties with Minuteman III's silo-based launch tactics, including its flight trajectory toward N.Korea, Syria, and Iran going over Russian airspace; Russia's nuclear arsenal is cited as the only one capable of wiping out the US's weapons, and a launch to strike a more southern target could trigger a retaliation response.

Launch ranges from Minuteman III sites, Malmstrum, Minot, F.E. Warren, and a few others. The team from Malmstrom was involved in the most recent launch from Vanderburg. (Global Zero US Nuclear Policy Commission Report, Page 7)

The Global Zero U.S. Nuclear Policy Commission Report, authored by Gen. James Cartwright, Sen. Chuck Hagel, Amb. Richard Burt, Gen. Jack Sheehan, and Dr. Bruce Blair reports that the Minuteman land-based missile systems would be "eliminated." Read the full report here.

Our nation's leadership has shifted its public stances on nuclear weapons over the past decade from necessary deterrent technologies to dangers that must be dismantled, and President Obama's administration has widely promoted a public and international rhetoric of removing nuclear weapons from our arsenal. In the Global Zero U.S. Nuclear Policy Commission Report, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel even states that the Minuteman III missiles must all be dismantled in the hopes of creating a nuclear-free world. (Page 6) Nevertheless, the military continues to upgrade and maintain Minuteman III missiles; they've been called "the US's prime nuclear deterrent" and are promised to continue being implemented as such "through 2020", according to ATK, an aerospace and defense contracting firm. Despite efforts to lower the number of nuclear weapons, the administration continues to improve the range and destructive capabilities of these technologies, implying that the US is not yet completely ready to give up the Mutually Assured Destruction (M.A.D.) thinking of the Cold War era.