National Museum of the US Air Force
The Minuteman IA on display (designation LGM-30A) represents one of 150 deployed at Malmstrom AFB, Montana, between 1962 and 1969. Improved range and accuracy in later models enabled their deployment at US bases farther from their targets in the former Soviet Union.
Like any ICBM, Minuteman IA was a complex system. The rocket's three powerful stages burned one after the other to send a single nuclear warhead on a free-falling or ballistic path to its target. To hit a target thousands of miles away, Minuteman used a precise guidance system of gyroscopes, accelerometers, and a computer that was powerful for its time.
Sensing the missile's movement, the guidance unit swiveled rocket motor nozzles to keep the missile on course. It also told the three stages when to fire and separate, and determined the right moment to release the re-entry vehicle containing the nuclear warhead.
The re-entry vehicle at the tip of the missile free-fell to its target using gravity alone. To protect the warhead inside from the heat of atmospheric re-entry, the vehicle was covered with special "ablative" coatings that carried away heat by burning and charring away as the vehicle streaked earthward.
The missile on display came to the Museum in 1971. Later Minuteman models included Minuteman IB (LGM-30B), II (LGM-30F), and III (LGM-30G). Over the years, the Minuteman series received various upgrades with improved motors, guidance, re-entry vehicles, and warheads. Minuteman III, also on display in this gallery, is still in service and is projected to be a main nuclear deterrent well into the 21st century.
TECHNICAL NOTES
Height: 53.8 ft
Weight: 65,000 lbs
Range: Designed for 5,000+ miles
Speed: 15,000 mph
Propulsion: Stage 1-Thiokol. 210.000 lbs thrust
Stage 2-Aerojet. 60.000 lbs thrust
Stage 3-Hercules, 35,000 lbs thrust
Guidance: All inertial, Autonetics Division of Rockwell
Warhead: Nuclear, re-entry vehicle by Avco
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