A Must-See Arizona Exhibit
A remarkable museum 15 miles south of Tucson,
Arizona, is apparently the only Intercontinental Missile (ICBM)
silo complex in the world that is open to the public. Most of
the hardware is still in place, including the 110 foot tall
Titan II rocket. The facility consists of three underground
structures, connected by tunnels: the control center; the silo;
and, in between them, the blast lock structure, which contains
the access portal and the stairwell that brings you 35 feet
underground and through the blast door in to the facility.
Visitors, who must wear hard hats, are shown most
of the surface and underground features, except for the living
area and equipment area on the top and bottom levels of the
three story, spring-loaded control center structure. The features
and functions of the control room, on the middle level, are
explained in detail, as are the complex routines and security
measures of the missile crew that manned the silos in four person,
24 hour shifts.
This site is one of 54 Titan II silos in three
separate silo fields, that served as a nuclear deterrent from
1963 to 1984. There was this field of 18 silos, in the vicinity
of Davis Monthan Air Force Base, in Tucson; another 18 near
Little Rock Air Force Base in Arkansas; and another 18 near
McConnell Air Force Base, in Wichita, Kansas. The Titan II was
the largest ICBM ever made by the USA, and the program was meant
as a retaliatory deterrent, only to be fired in response to
a Soviet first strike. The missiles, each with a nuclear warhead
of over one megaton (the exact amount is still classified),
were kept fueled and ready to launch within one minute of receiving
the command to do so.
The last Titan II silo was decommissioned in 1987,
replaced by more advanced Minuteman and MX Peacekeeper ICBMs,
deployed in 1000 silos across the Great Plains. Many of the
Titan silos were sold to the public at auction, after the Air
Force detonated the launch duct and salvaged reusable equipment
(the access portal and control centers were left in tact and
some are used now as storage, and in some cases even as homes
by their new owners). The Titan II rockets have been refitted
and used for satellite deployment.
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