Features
The Peacekeeper is capable of delivering 10 independently targeted
warheads with greater accuracy than any other ballistic missile. It
is a three-stage rocket ICBM system consisting of three major sections:
the boost system, the post-boost vehicle system and the re-entry system.
The boost system consists of three rocket stages that launch the missile
into space. These rocket stages are mounted atop one another and fire
successively. Each of the first three stages exhausts its solid propellant
materials through a single movable nozzle that guides the missile along
its flight path.
Following the burnout and separation of the boost system's third rocket
stage, the post-boost vehicle system, in space, maneuvers the missile
as its re-entry vehicles are deployed in sequence.
The post-boost vehicle system is made up of a maneuvering rocket, and
a guidance and control system. The vehicle rides atop the boost system,
weighs about 3,000 pounds (1,363 kilograms) and is 4 feet (1.21 meters)
long.
The top section of the Peacekeeper is the re-entry system. It consists
of the deployment module, up to 10 cone-shaped re-entry vehicles and
a protective shroud. The shroud protects the re-entry vehicles during
ascent.
It is topped with a nose cap, containing a rocket motor to separate
it from the deployment module. The deployment module provides structural
support for the re-entry vehicles and carries the electronics needed
to activate and deploy them. The vehicles are covered with material
to protect them during re-entry through the atmosphere to their targets
and are mechanically attached to the deployment module. The attachments
are unlatched by gas pressure from an explosive cartridge broken by
small, exploding bolts, which free the re-entry vehicles, allowing them
to separate from the deployment module with minimum disturbance. Each
deployed re-entry vehicle follows a ballistic path to its target.
Background
The Air Force successfully conducted the first test flight of the Peacekeeper
June 17, 1983, from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. The missile traveled
4,190 miles (6,704 kilometers) before dropping six unarmed test re-entry
vehicles on planned target sites in the Kwajalein Missile Test Range
in the Pacific Ocean.
The first two test phases consisted of 12 test flights to ensure the
Peacekeeper's subsystems performed as planned, and to make final assessments
of its range and payload capability. The missile was fired from above-ground
canisters in its first eight tests. Thereafter, test flights were conducted
from Minuteman test silos reconfigured to simulate operational Peacekeeper
sites.
The Air Force achieved initial operational capability of 10 deployed
Peacekeepers at F.E. Warren AFB, Wyo., in December 1986. Full operational
capability was achieved in December 1988 with the establishment of a
squadron of 50 missiles.
Ballistic Missile Organization, Air Force Materiel Command (now Detachment
10, Space and Missile Systems Center), began full-scale development
of the Peacekeeper in 1979. This organization, located at San Bernadino,
Calif., integrated the activities of more than 27 civilian contractors
and numerous subcontractors to develop and build the Peacekeeper system.
General Characteristics
Primary Function: Intercontinental ballistic missile
Contractor: Basing: Boeing Aerospace and Electronics; assembly and
test: Martin Marietta and Denver Aerospace
Power Plant: First three stages, solid-propellant; fourth stage, storable
liquid (by Thiokol, Aerojet, Hercules and Rocketdyne)
Length: 71 feet (21.8 meters)
Weight: 195,000 pounds (87,750 kilograms) including re-entry vehicles
Diameter: 7 feet, 8 inches (2.3 meters)
Range: Greater than 6,000 miles (5,217 nautical miles)
Speed: Approximately 15,000 miles per hour at burnout (Mach 20 at sea
level)
Guidance system: Inertial; integration by Rockwell, IMU by Northrop
and Rockwell
Warheads: 10 Avco MK 21 re-entry vehicles
Date Deployed: December 1986
Unit Cost: $70 million
Inventory: Active force, 50; ANG, 0; Reserve, 0
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