The Titan Missile System

[CaveCreekRay]

Someone has put a really interesting series together on the Titan missile system spread through three states: Arizona, Kansas, and Arkansas.

For you tech geeks like me, this is an amazing construction effort using materials meant to withstand an atomic blast. The silo closure door alone took 34 tons of welding rod.

I joined a Titan crew at 23 in 1979. Two years later, I was given my own crew. Except for one site in Green Valley Arizona that is thankfully a museum now, all the other sites were destroyed in accordance with SALT II (Strategic Arms Limitation Talks) so that they could never be used again.

I pulled alert a few times at the museum site but my home site was about ten miles away, isolated at the foot of a mountain range in the beautiful Sonoran Desert, coincidentally at the entrance to a nature preserve in Madera Canyon. As Tucson grew, some sites became less isolated. One was across the street from a private grade school. Another was within view of the Stuckey's on I-10 near Benson, AZ. The museum site was surrounded by homes and a Circle K convenience store was across the highway. Few knew the missile sites were there.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXpODmlXZZE

 

[seanbarr]

We live on Missile Site Rd, just up the street where it was decommissioned before the Titans. Didn’t last long as the method for launching it was way too long.

Read the archives about how the first one rolled into town and stopped in front of a grade school as a “show-n-tell” while 18 y.o. MP boys with M-16’s stood guard. Years later, a pupil who was there recalled that day when all of a sudden, the MP’s raised alarm and hurriedly got the missile on the way to the site and the students quickly ushered back into class. He witnessed a principal grasping a boy’s shirt while scolding at him loudly.

He later met with the boy and asked if he knew what happened. Turns out that the boy took a dare to se if he could throw a rock over the missile. Not quite as the small primitive missile from the earth hit the man made one.


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[CaveCreekRay]

Sean,

Great story. So 60's, like something off the "Wonder Years." LOL...

 

[mickeyd]

Nice find Mr. "Pocket Rocket."

That is where they stuck most of the "retreads."

While I worked underground in NORAD and Space Command, I would NEVER want your job.

 

[CaveCreekRay]

I actually enjoyed it because I hoped to use it as a stepping stone to flying. I was only there two years before heading to Willy. Given the choice between Titan and Minuteman, at least I could see my missile: It lived down the hallway. Minuteman crews were a minimum of ten miles from their unmanned Launch Facilities (LF's). We called them "phone operators." (You have to be old to understand that label...)

The geek part of me loved the technical details of how the site was made, and worked...

The silo closure door weighed a million and a half pounds. It was held closed by four massive steel T-locks and was designed to withstand a nearby nuclear blast. The T-locks would unlock and jack screws would jack the door about 1 foot and roll it back out of the way in under 14 seconds, all the while covered with 15 feet of blast debris. What massive motor could be expected to do the impossible? A five cylinder radial powered by 8 20,000 psi accumulators. The radial was geared down and the whole mechanism was mechanical.

Unbelievable.

 

[mickeyd]

Was the only two years because the were shutting down the sites?

(Yes, I fully understand THAT. )

A lot can be said about old mechanical works. They not only worked but lasted a long time.

After I retired, my boss at the engineering firm I worked for always complained about how the world was going to the dogs because everything was becoming digital. Of course, his real problem was that he didn't understand computers, PLC's, networks, etc.

That was how I made my living, switching everything to digital.

 

[skeets]

Way back when, there were several underground silos around DaBurgh and when they were closed, the property's went to the auction block through GSA. I know of 2 that were bought and a couple really nice homes were built on them. The one fellow I knew from the sportsman's club bought one. and built a really nice home there. And later built a super nice indoor range.
Had I know then what I know now, I would have been bidding on one myself. But hell the cold war was over and jobs were hard to find and keep back in the early 70s and with a family a silo was not on my top 10 list. Now well yeah it might not be a bad idea

 

[CaveCreekRay]

Mic,

I left because I got selected for flight training. They announced the close-down a couple years after I left.

The mechanical items in the site worked nearly flawlessly for the 20+ years they were operational. I mentioned the killer diesel generators (hung from the ceiling) but sadly, I have learned they were too heavy to get out of the sites so most got buried. What a waste.

Skeets,

Yeah, some of the sites might have been pretty easy to convert, at least into ranges. Ones like this that were under water for 30 years look like ship wrecks. So sad...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1rQox9j1oI

Here is the old Titan I site that was only operational for three years! The cost must have been enormous. The Titan I was rushed into service but had to be fueled before launch, taking almost an hour. The Titan II was airborne less than 60 seconds after key turn.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19J8FSIM4nE

 

[D2Cat]

The whole project is mind boggling. How do you weld a piece of steel(the door) that large with that much heat/rod and it not warp? How do the engineers even have a clue how much concrete required in the base to support the missile? And to make continuous concrete pours of the volume of concrete they were needing in those years would overload any readymix plant. Can't imagine the trucking required to bring in the rock out of the quarry, to the batch plant, haul to the job site, and then have the equipment to put it in place.... unbelievable.

I've seen on FB or CL ad for investing in a silo for one's family. They've developed the silo into a community. Kind of like a "nursing home". Everything provided, you just show up and outlive everyone when the attack comes. Cost was like 1/2M each family, located near Hutchinson, Ks.

Then read some of the comments on the YouTube video. Folks belittling the expenditure of all the money, commenting how many people could be fed or taken care of. They have a different understanding of what the world was like in those days. Without the ability to show force in the world, it would probably be much different then we have today, for sure!

 

[mickeyd]

Mic,

I left because I got selected for flight training. They announced the close-down a couple years after I left.

What did you drive?

 

[CaveCreekRay]

Len,

That is what blew me away. The craftsmanship on those facilities was amazing. The concrete finishing was superb. Not a crack, even today. And as I mentioned earlier, everything hung from the wall or ceiling. Including the floors of the command center and the missile. The idea was to shock isolate everything in case of a nearby nuclear detonation (NUDET).

In this Control Center pic, back by the wall, you can see one of six enormous spring assemblies that the two upper floor levels were hung from. You could put your back against the wall and push with all your might on these springs and the floor would slowly start swaying...

The missile weighing over 330,000 lbs was bolted to a box frame thrust mount ring that hung from the walls of the launch duct on 4 huge shock absorbers. Horizontally, mounted to this ring were 8 smaller shock absorbers that would let me missile move in a NUDET. These 8 would lock down during the launch sequence to make sure the missile was stationary prior to liftoff. It had to withstand the 440,000 lbs of thrust from the motors as they fired off and tried to rip the thrust mount skyward.

When the engines hit 100% the thrust mount bolts explosively blew and the missile was airborne. It would accelerate to 60 mph in it's length. The only ICBM that was man-rated, the Titan II flew all the Gemini missions. The astronauts all said the Titan flights were the "E-Ticket" ride of the space program. Lifting off at nearly 2 G, by first stage burnout at just over 2 minutes, the acceleration had reached 8 Gs. The Saturn or the Space Shuttle were a bus ride compared to 8 Gs.

Look way at the bottom of the missile: The thrust mount is the big ring it is sitting on. On the left, you can see one of four shock mounts the ring hangs on...

Oh, and right before main engine start, 200,000 gallons of water would start spraying into the launch duct under the engines. Without the water, the decibel level would shake the airframe to bits. They found water turning to steam saved the missile while in the launch tube. All that water was in a tank mounted to the wall -three stories high. The steam is visible in pictures of a launch venting from the launch duct as it lifts off. In some launch pictures you see red color which is Hydrazine and will melt skin on contact...

Mickey,

I flew the Nav Bus (T-43A or Boeing 737) and then the "Four-Fanned Trash Can", The C-130.

 

[mickeyd]

Which model C-130? While in the 314 TAW we had mostly B & E's.

Now, wasn't "Trash Hauling" an adventure?

 

[seanbarr]

Sean,



Great story. So 60's, like something off the "Wonder Years." LOL...

Definitely was! It’s the little history “between the lines” that fascinates me which normally aren’t mentioned in books.


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[CaveCreekRay]

H-Models out of lovely Dyess, TX.

We had some great guys in the Herk world. The whole crew would work together to get the mission complete. Not a lot of room for egos. Guys lived and died by their hands. No covering for bad hands. The C-130 was the most dangerous aircraft I ever flew, and that was during peacetime. In my first 8 years at the airline, they lost 8 130's, including the crews.

 

[mickeyd]

Must have been because they were OLD.

We loved that it was the most overpowered plane in the air and could get in and out of very tight spots.

Overall they have had a very good record of about 3-4% loss.

What do you think about the J's

 

[CaveCreekRay]

In the late 80's, our '74 models were the newest Herks in operation. The E-Models were early 60's airframes that had seen really hard duty their whole life. When the Herk was first put into service, people thought they were indestructible. They quickly found out that was not true.

I drink coffee with a former C-7 pilot who transitioned into the Herk when it came on line in Vietnam. They were breaking them left and right.

We nearly lost two planes while I was at Dyess. The only H model crash I know of is a pilot who tried to out-climb a mountain -and lost. The rest were E models. Props hung instead of reversing. Engine mounts failed taking the engine and wing leading edge off with it. Bad LAPES in front of cameras. All while on training events.

The J Model had teething pains of its own. Took it a couple three years to get operationally certified and I guess they have the bugs out now. The jury is still out on the fuse stretch. Can the wing handle the extra stress for its projected life? Time will tell. At least they upgraded the systems alleviating the need for a Flight Engineer and Navigator. Our H models had the same autopilot the B-29 had. Steam gauges. Little in the way of navigation aids. The J has everything a modern airliner has. That gives our guys a better chance at survival.

 

[skeets]

Ray I have been thinking about it and I dont know if the sites were Titan sites, could they have been minute man sites?

 

[CaveCreekRay]

Brother Skeets,

Not sure what those would have been. Might have been an Atlas. Those sites were smaller and the site was relatively "soft" with the missile laying horizontal under a thin metal door. The Atlas had little structural strength and relied on nitrogen pressure to keep it inflated until erected vertical, then it was fueled.

The Titan I was only at five locations: CA, ID, CO. The Titan II at three: AZ, KS, AR. Minutemen silos are all over the north central and northwest farm locations. If memory serves me, they managed to retrofit most, if not all of the Minuteman silos to fit the newer and bigger versions. The big Peacekeeper required all new facilities though.

The only missiles still operational are the Minuteman III and the Peacekeepers.

 

[skeets]

Im thinking that may be it the doors were heavy but not like you were talking about, and 50 years has a way of making you for get stuff you werent really interested in anyway
Other things took place of that, you know like fast cars fast women and good whiskey, and rocknroll you know important stuff

 

[CaveCreekRay]

Just found this on the original Titan I missile system. New info I did not know and in the 4th installment, the tour underground is mind blowing...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeJjxu2p8BA