The Minuteman-II is a United States nuclear missile, a land-based intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). The name “Minuteman” comes from the American Revolutionary War’s Minutemen, the name given to members of the militia of the American Colonies, who vowed to be ready for battle in a minute's notice.
Development of the missile began in 1962 as a planned replacement of the Minuteman-I. The Minuteman-II began production in 1965, was in service from 1966 until it was finally removed from service in 1997. Performance improvements realized in Minuteman-II include greater range, increased throw weight, improved accuracy and reliability, multiple target selection, and greater penetration capability. Its successor, The Minuteman-III, is currently in service and is expected to remain in service through the year 2025.
The Minuteman had two innovations that gave it a long practical service life: a solid rocket booster, and a digital flight computer. This computer was one of the very first recognizably modern embedded systems.
The major new features provided by Minuteman-II were:
- An improved first-stage motor to increase reliability.
- A new-technology, single, fixed nozzle with liquid injection thrust vector control (TVC) on a larger second stage motor to increase missile range.
- Additional motor improvements to increase reliability.
- An improved guidance system, incorporating semiconductor integrated circuits and miniaturized discrete electronic parts. Minuteman-II was the first program to make a major commitment to these new devices. Their use made possible multiple target selection, greater accuracy and reliability, a reduction in the overall size and weight of the guidance system, and an increase in the survivability of the guidance system in a nuclear environment.
- A penetration aids system to camouflage the warhead during its reentry into an enemy environment.
- A larger warhead in the reentry vehicle (RV) to increase kill probability.
The Minuteman-II program was economically crucial to the development of integrated circuits. It was the first mass-produced system to use a computer constructed from integrated circuits, and used most of the production of such circuits from 1962 through 1967. The other major customer of these circuits was the Apollo Guidance Computer, which had similar weight and ruggedness constraints. The Minuteman-II flight computer continued to use rotating magnetic disk for primary storage.
For more information:
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minutemen_%28militia%29
- http://www.geocities.com/minuteman_missile/index.html
- http://www.strategic-air-command.com/missiles/Minuteman/Minuteman_Missile_History.htm
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGM-30_Minuteman#Minuteman-II_.28LGM-30F.29
Author(s): Leonard Churchill (2007 January 17)
