The U.S. Air Force has finished closing 50 ICBM silos and five launch control facilities at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana, the Great Falls Tribune reported yesterday (see GSN, Aug. 6).
(Oct. 22) -
Workers remove the upper section of an ICBM at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana. The United States has finished the closure of 50 ICBM silos and related facilities at the base (U.S. Air Force photo).
The installations, operated by the the 564th Missile Squadron, were deactivated following the military's 2006 strategic decision to eliminate some of the 500 ICBMs then deployed across the country. The squadron cost more to operate than the nation's nine other missile squadrons due to the unit's unique command-and-control infrastructure.
Maintenance workers at the base took two years to close down the sites, which included separation of nuclear-armed re-entry vehicles from each missile and removal of the missile itself in three parts from each silo.
The process also involved the removal of 10 7-ton doors, 660 batteries that each weighed more than 1,400 pounds and various materials containing dangerous substances. The equipment was transferred to Hill Air Force Base in Utah, where it is expected to supply the Minuteman 3 ICBM program over the next two decades.
Malmstrom maintains three other missile squadrons. In addition, F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming and Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota each host three such units. All squadrons are equipped with 50 ICBMs (Peter Johnson, Great Falls Tribune, Oct. 21).