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•llo. Later, another Air Force | U launching aites ringing cen- I about 50 miles northeast of Lit- | labTitanSitNearlyInvulnerableCityBy BILL SIMMONSSEARCY. Ark. lAP) - The Air Force calls the Titan II mis-IThe missile la 108 feet long and about 10 feet in diameter ataile complex a nearly invulnerable underground city, endangered only by a director ornear-direct atomic hit.its widest point. It rests in a tube that extends downward 155feet into the ground.There are 54 Titan II sites inthe United States18 near LitIt calls the missile the birdand the launch tube the nest tie Rock. 18 near Tucson and 18 near Wichita. Thev were com-The bird oasts $2 6 million. Itsnest raises the total cost of onepleted in December 1963 at a total cost of more than $400 mil-such complex to about $8 million.The missile weighs 150 tonslion. All are operational. Their targets have been programmed. All that remains is to be fired.when loaded with its liquid propellant fuel. It is primed for traveling 6.000 miles at a topspeed of 18.000 miles per hour with a 24-megaton nuclear warhead in its nose —one flightonlv, one wav.Only the President can give the order to fire.* * *The sites are located completely underground. They are covered bv a 490-ton steel andconcrete door that moves latterThe uarht .id becomes anned ly on rails and flanged wheelssome time after launch. Exacthwhen it become* detonatable isThe silo walls range from four to eight teet thick —also con*Force says, enough concrete inone Titan II silo to build a side-Little Rock and Milwaukee.A complex is built with three chambers — the launch tube.which has nine levels, an access unit, and a control center. The access unit is between the tubeand the control center and isconnected to both by an underground passage.A crew of four mentwoofficers and two airmenmanthe control center.Most silo areas are surroundedby a fence enclosing two landscaped acres.The two-stage Titan, named for the great fighters of Greek mythology, is America’s mightiest intercontinental ballisticOrwalk four-feet wide between listexjthrtubnelt;whadlt;JTu71626.O.FoiMilLittonMaTexmissile, the Air Force savs.If is used as the booster to thetin.Artclassified information.crete and steel. There is. the Air Gemini manned orbital flights.Ups!6olt;
Newspaper Details
Blytheville Courier News
Blytheville, Arkansas, US
Tue, Aug 10, 1965
Page 2
Full Page
Clipped by
Arkansas S.
AR, USA 13 Feb 2020
Other Publications Near Blytheville, Arkansas
Blytheville Army Air Corps News
Blytheville Courier News
