The United States Terrifying LGM-30 Minuteman Ballistic Missile

The LGM-30 Minuteman is an American land-based intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in service with the Air Force Global Strike Command. As of 2024, the LGM-30G is the only land-based ICBM operational in the United States and represents the US nuclear triad, along with the Trident II submarine-launched ballistic missile. (SLBM) and nuclear weapons carried by long-range strategic bombers. Development of the Minuteman began in the mid-1950s when basic research showed that solid-fuel rocket motors could be ready to launch for long periods of time, as opposed to liquid-fueled rockets which required fuel before launch and were likely to disintegrate in the 1950s. sudden attack. The Minuteman missile is named after colonial soldiers in the American Revolutionary War, who were ready to fight at a moment's notice.

The Minuteman entered service in 1962 as a deterrent weapon that could hit Soviet cities with a second strike and counterattack if the US were attacked. However, the United States Navy's (USN) development of the Polaris UGM-27, which served the same role, allowed the Air Force to modify the Minuteman, thereby increasing its accuracy for striking hardened military targets, including Soviet missile silos. The Minuteman II entered service in 1965 with a number of upgrades to increase its accuracy and survivability against known anti-ballistic missile (ABM) systems being developed by the Soviets. In 1970, the Minuteman III became the first ICBM to be deployed with multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRVs): three small warheads that increased the missile's ability to strike targets defended by the ABM. The Minuteman was initially armed with a W62 warhead with a yield of 170 kilotons.

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