AnSM-65 Atlas, the first US ICBM, first launched in 1957Minuteman III launch fromVandenberg Space Force Base, California, United States of America on 9 February 2023.
Early ICBMs hadlimited precision, which made them suitable for use onlyagainst the largest targets, such as cities. They were seen as a "safe" basing option, one that would keep the deterrent force close to home where it would be difficult to attack.Attacks against military targets (especially hardened ones) demanded the use of a more precise, crewedbomber. Second- and third-generation designs (such as theLGM-118 Peacekeeper) dramatically improved accuracy to the point where even the smallest point targets can be successfully attacked.
Primary views of anR-7 Semyorka, the world's first ICBM and satellite launch vehicle
The first practical design for an ICBM grew out ofNazi Germany'sV-2 rocket program. The liquid-fueled V-2, designed byWernher von Braun and his team, was then widely used by Nazi Germany from mid-1944 until March 1945 to bomb British and Belgian cities, particularly Antwerp and London.
UnderProjekt Amerika, von Braun's team developed theA9/10 ICBM, intended for use in bombing New York and other American cities. Initially intended to be guided by radio, it was changed to be a piloted craft after the failure ofOperation Elster. The second stage of the A9/A10 rocket was tested a few times in January and February 1945.
After the war, the US executedOperation Paperclip, which took von Braun and hundreds of other leading Nazi scientists to the United States to developIRBMs, ICBMs, andlaunchers for the US Army.
This technology was predicted by US General of the ArmyHap Arnold, who wrote in 1943:
Someday, not too distant, there can come streaking out of somewhere – we won't be able to hear it, it will come so fast – some kind of gadget with an explosive so powerful that one projectile will be able to wipe out completely this city of Washington.[2][3]
After World War II, the Americans and the Soviets started rocket research programs based on the V-2 and other German wartime designs. Each branch of the US military started its own programs, leading to considerable duplication of effort. In the Soviet Union, rocket research was centrally organized although several teams worked on different designs.
The US initiated ICBM research in 1946 with theRTV-A-2 Hiroc project. This was a three-stage effort with the ICBM development not starting until the third stage. However, funding was cut in 1948 after only three partially successful launches of the second stage design, that was used to test variations of the V-2 design.[4] With overwhelming air superiority and truly intercontinental bombers, the newly formedUS Air Force did not take the problem of ICBM development seriously. Things changed in 1953 with the Soviet testing oftheir firstthermonuclear weapon, but it was not until 1954 that theAtlas missile program was given the highest national priority. The Atlas A first flew on 11 June 1957; the flight lasted only about 24 seconds before the rocket exploded. The first successful flight of an Atlas missile to full range occurred 28 November 1958.[5] The first armed version of the Atlas, the Atlas D, was declared operational in January 1959 at Vandenberg, although it had not yet flown. The first test flight was carried out on 9 July 1959,[6] and the missile was accepted for service on 1 September. TheTitan I was another US multistage ICBM, with a successful launch February 5, 1959, with Titan I A3. Unlike the Atlas, the Titan I was a two-stage missile, rather than three. The Titan was larger, yet lighter, than the Atlas. Due to the improvements in engine technology and guidance systems the Titan I overtook the Atlas.[7]
"The Martin Company: Ten Years To Remember" (1964). OfficialUSAF ICBM development promotional film reel.
In the Soviet Union, early development was focused on missiles able to attack European targets. That changed in 1953, whenSergei Korolev was directed to start development of a true ICBM able to deliver newly developed hydrogen bombs. Given steady funding throughout, theR-7 developed with some speed. The first launch took place on 15 May 1957 and led to an unintended crash 400 km (250 mi) from the site. The first successful test followed on 21 August 1957; the R-7 flew over 6,000 km (3,700 mi) and became the world's first ICBM.[8] The first strategic-missile unit became operational on 9 February 1959 atPlesetsk in north-west Russia.[9]
The R-7 and Atlas each required a large launch facility, making them vulnerable to attack, and could not be kept in a ready state. Failure rates were very high throughout the early years of ICBM technology. Human spaceflight programs (Vostok,Mercury,Voskhod,Gemini, etc.) served as a highly visible means of demonstrating confidence in reliability, with successes translating directly to national defense implications. The US was well behind the Soviets in theSpace Race and so US PresidentJohn F. Kennedy increased the stakes with theApollo program, which usedSaturn rocket technology that had been funded by PresidentDwight D. Eisenhower.
1965 graph of USAFAtlas and Titan ICBM launches, cumulative by month with failures highlighted (pink), showing howNASA's use of ICBM boosters for Projects Mercury and Gemini (blue) served as a visible demonstration of reliability at a time when failure rates had been substantial.
These early ICBMs also formed the basis of many space launch systems. Examples includeR-7,Atlas,Redstone,Titan, andProton, which was derived from the earlier ICBMs but never deployed as an ICBM. The Eisenhower administration supported the development of solid-fueled missiles such as theLGM-30 Minuteman,Polaris andSkybolt. Modern ICBMs tend to be smaller than their ancestors, due to increased accuracy and smaller and lighter warheads, and use solid fuels, making them less useful as orbital launch vehicles.
The Western view of the deployment of these systems was governed by the strategic theory ofmutual assured destruction. In the 1950s and 1960s, development began onanti-ballistic missile systems by both the Americans and Soviets. Such systems were restricted by the 1972Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. The first successful ABM test was conducted by the Soviets in 1961, which later deployed a fully operational system defending Moscow in the 1970s (seeMoscow ABM system).
"Minutemen Missile And Mission" (1962) Official de-classified information film reel.
The 1972SALT treaty froze the number of ICBM launchers of both the Americans and the Soviets at existing levels and allowed newsubmarine-basedSLBM launchers only if an equal number of land-based ICBM launchers were dismantled. Subsequent talks, called SALT II, were held from 1972 to 1979 and actually reduced the number of nuclear warheads held by the US and Soviets. SALT II was never ratified by theUS Senate, but its terms were honored by both sides until 1986, when the Reagan administration "withdrew" after it had accused the Soviets of violating the pact.
China developed a minimal independent nuclear deterrent entering its own cold war after anideological split with the Soviet Union beginning in the early 1960s. After first testing a domestic builtnuclear weapon in 1964, it went on to develop various warheads and missiles. Beginning in the early 1970s, the liquid fueledDF-5 ICBM was developed and used as a satellite launch vehicle in 1975. The DF-5, with a range of 10,000 to 12,000 km (6,200 to 7,500 mi)—long enough to strike the Western United States and the Soviet Union—was silo deployed, with the first pair in service by 1981 and possibly twenty missiles in service by the late 1990s.[10] China also deployed theJL-1Medium-range ballistic missile with a reach of 1,700 kilometres (1,100 mi) aboard the ultimately unsuccessfulType 092 submarine.[11]
Deployment history of land-based ICBM, 1959–2014Topol-M launch from silo
In 1991, the United States and theSoviet Union agreed in theSTART I treaty to reduce their deployed ICBMs and attributed warheads.
As of 2016[update], all five of the nations with permanent seats on theUnited Nations Security Council have fully operational long-range ballistic missile systems; Russia, the United States, and China also have land-based ICBMs (the US missiles are silo-based, while China and Russia have both silo and road-mobile (DF-31,RT-2PM2 Topol-M missiles).
Israel is believed to have deployed a road mobile nuclear ICBM, theJericho III, which entered service in 2008; an upgraded version is in development.[12][13]
India successfully test firedAgni V, with a strike range of more than 5,000 km (3,100 mi) on 19 April 2012, claiming entry into the ICBM club.[14] The missile's actual range is speculated by foreign researchers to be up to 8,000 km (5,000 mi) with India having downplayed its capabilities to avoid causing concern to other countries.[15] On 15 December 2022, first night trial of Agni-V was successfully carried out by SFC from Abdul Kalam Island, Odisha. The missile is now 20 percent lighter because the use of composite materials rather than steel material. The range has been increased to 7,000 km.[16]
By 2012 there was speculation by someintelligence agencies thatNorth Korea is developing an ICBM.[17] North Korea successfully put asatellite into space on 12 December 2012 using the 32-metre-tall (105 ft)Unha-3 rocket. The United States claimed that the launch was in fact a way to test an ICBM.[18] (SeeTimeline of first orbital launches by country.) In early July 2017, North Korea claimed for the first time to have tested successfully an ICBM capable of carrying a large thermonuclear warhead.
In July 2014, China announced the development of its newest generation of ICBM, the Dongfeng-41 (DF-41), which has a range of 12,000 kilometres (7,500 miles), capable of reaching the United States, and which analysts believe is capable of being outfitted withMIRV technology.[19]
Most countries in the early stages of developing ICBMs have used liquid propellants, with the known exceptions being theIndianAgni-V, the planned but cancelled[20] South African RSA-4 ICBM, and the now in service IsraeliJericho III.[21]
In July 2023, North Korea fired a suspected intercontinental ballistic missile that landed short of Japanese waters. The launch follows North Korea's threat to retaliate against the US for alleged spy plane incursions.[27]
The following flight phases can be distinguished:[28][29]
Boost phase, which can last from 3 to 5 minutes. It is shorter for asolid-fuel rocket than for aliquid-propellant rocket. Depending on the trajectory chosen, typical burnout speed is 4 km/s (2.5 mi/s), up to 7.8 km/s (4.8 mi/s). The altitude of the missile at the end of this phase is typically 150 to 400 km (90 to 250 mi).
Midcourse phase, which lasts approximately 25 minutes, issub-orbital spaceflight with the flightpath being a part of anellipse with a vertical major axis. Theapogee (halfway through the midcourse phase) is at an altitude of approximately 1,200 km (750 mi). Thesemi-major axis is between 3,186 and 6,372 km (1,980 and 3,959 mi) and the projection of the flightpath on the Earth's surface is close to agreat circle, though slightly displaced due to earth rotation during the time of flight. In this phase, the missile may release several independent warheads andpenetration aids, such as metallic-coated balloons, aluminumchaff, and full-scale warheaddecoys.
Reentry/Terminal phase, which lasts two minutes starting at an altitude of 100 km; 62 mi. At the end of this phase, the missile's payload will impact the target, with impact at a speed of up to 7 km/s (4.3 mi/s) (for early ICBMs less than 1 km/s (0.62 mi/s)); see alsomaneuverable reentry vehicle.
ICBMs usually use the trajectory which optimizes range for a given amount of payload (theminimum-energy trajectory); an alternative is adepressed trajectory, which allows less payload, shorter flight time, and has a much lower apogee.[30]
Schematic view of a submarine-launchedTrident II D5 nuclear missile system, capable of carrying multiple nuclear warheads up to 8,000 km (5,000 mi)
Modern ICBMs typically carrymultiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRVs), each of which carries a separatenuclearwarhead, allowing a single missile to hit multiple targets. MIRV was an outgrowth of the rapidly shrinking size and weight of modern warheads and the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaties (SALT I andSALT II), which imposed limitations on the number of launch vehicles. It has also proved to be an "easy answer" to proposed deployments ofanti-ballistic missile (ABM) systems: It is far less expensive to add more warheads to an existing missile system than to build an ABM system capable of shooting down the additional warheads; hence, most ABM system proposals have been judged to be impractical. The first operational ABM systems were deployed in the United States during the 1970s. TheSafeguard ABM facility, located in North Dakota, was operational from 1975 to 1976. The Soviets deployed theirABM-1 Galosh system around Moscow in the 1970s, which remains in service. Israel deployed a national ABM system based on theArrow missile in 1998,[31] but it is mainly designed to intercept shorter-ranged theater ballistic missiles, not ICBMs. The Alaska-basedUnited States national missile defense system attained initial operational capability in 2004.[32]
On heavy trucks: this applies to one version of theTopol which may be deployed from a self-propelledmobile launcher, capable of moving through roadless terrain, and launching a missile from any point along its route
The last three kinds are mobile and therefore hard to detect prior to a missile launch. During storage, one of the most important features of the missile is its serviceability. One of the key features of the firstcomputer-controlled ICBM, theMinuteman missile, was that it could quickly and easily use its computer to test itself.
After launch, abooster pushes the missile and then falls away. Most modern boosters aresolid-propellant rocket motors, which can be stored easily for long periods of time. Early missiles usedliquid-fueled rocket motors. Many liquid-fueled ICBMs could not be kept fueled at all times as thecryogenic fuelliquid oxygen boiled off and caused ice formation, and therefore fueling the rocket was necessary before launch. This procedure was a source of significant operational delay and might allow the missiles to be destroyed by enemy counterparts before they could be used. To resolve this problem Nazi Germany invented themissile silo that protected the missile fromstrategic bombing and also hid fueling operations underground.[citation needed]
Although theUSSR/Russia preferred ICBM designs that use hypergolic liquid fuels, which can be stored at room temperature for more than a few years.
Once the booster falls away, the remaining "bus" releases several warheads, each of which continues on its own unpowered ballistictrajectory, much like an artillery shell or cannonball. The warhead is encased in a cone-shaped reentry vehicle and is difficult to detect in this phase of flight as there is no rocket exhaust or other emissions to mark its position to defenders. The high speeds of the warheads make them difficult to intercept and allow for little warning, striking targets many thousands of kilometers away from the launch site (and due to the possible locations of the submarines: anywhere in the world) within approximately 30 minutes.[citation needed]
As the nuclear warhead reenters the Earth's atmosphere, its high speed causes compression of the air, leading to a dramatic rise in temperature which would destroy it, if it were not shielded in some way. In one design, warhead components are contained within an aluminiumhoneycomb substructure, sheathed in apyrolytic carbon-epoxysynthetic resincomposite material heat shield.[citation needed] Warheads are also often radiation-hardened (to protect against nuclear armed ABMs or the nearby detonation of friendly warheads), one neutron-resistant material developed for this purpose in the UK isthree-dimensional quartz phenolic.[citation needed]
Circular error probable is crucial, because halving the circular error probable decreases the needed warhead energy by afactor of four. Accuracy is limited by the accuracy of the navigation system and the availablegeodetic information.
Strategic missile systems are thought to use customintegrated circuits designed to calculatenavigationaldifferential equations thousands to millions ofFLOPS in order to reduce navigational errors caused by calculation alone. These circuits are usually a network of binary addition circuits that continually recalculate the missile's position. The inputs to the navigation circuit are set by a general-purpose computer according to a navigational input schedule loaded into the missile before launch.
One particular weapon developed by the Soviet Union – theFractional Orbital Bombardment System – had a partialorbital trajectory, and unlike most ICBMs its target could not be deduced from its orbital flight path. It was decommissioned in compliance with arms control agreements, which address the maximum range of ICBMs and prohibit orbital or fractional-orbital weapons. However, according to President Putin, Russia is working on the newSarmat ICBM which leverages Fractional Orbital Bombardment concepts[citation needed] to use a southern polar approach instead of flying over the northern polar regions.[33] It is theorized that, by using that approach, it could potentially avoid the American missile defense batteries in California and Alaska.
New development of ICBM technology are ICBMs able to carry hypersonic glide vehicles as apayload such asRS-28 Sarmat.
On 12 March 2024 India announced that it had joined a very limited group of countries, which are capable of firing multiple warheads on a single ICBM. The announcement came after successfully testing multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle (MIRV) technology.[34]
The United States currently operates 405 ICBMs in threeUSAF bases.[39] The only model deployed isLGM-30G Minuteman-III. All previous USAFMinuteman II missiles were destroyed in accordance withSTART II, and their launch silos have been sealed or sold to the public. The powerful MIRV-capablePeacekeeper missiles were phased out in 2005.[40]
A SovietR-36M (SS-18 Satan), the largest ICBM in history, with athrow weight of 8,800 kg
China has developed several long-range ICBMs, like theDF-31. The Dongfeng 5 orDF-5 is a 3-stage liquid fuel ICBM and has an estimated range of 13,000 kilometers. The DF-5 had its first flight in 1971 and was in operational service 10 years later. One of the downsides of the missile was that it took between 30 and 60 minutes to fuel. TheDong Feng 31 (a.k.a. CSS-10) is a medium-range, three-stage, solid-propellant intercontinental ballistic missile, and is a land-based variant of the submarine-launched JL-2.
TheDF-41 or CSS-X-10 can carry up to 10 nuclear warheads, which areMIRVs and has a range of approximately 12,000–14,000 km (7,500–8,700 mi).[42][43][44] The DF-41 deployed underground in Xinjiang, Qinghai, Gansu and Inner Mongolia. The mysterious underground subway ICBM carrier systems are called the "Underground Great Wall Project".[45]
Israel is believed to have deployed a road mobile nuclear ICBM, theJericho III, which entered service in 2008. It is possible for the missile to be equipped with a single 750 kg (1,650 lb) nuclear warhead or up to threeMIRV warheads. It is believed to be based on theShavit space launch vehicle and is estimated to have a range of 4,800 to 11,500 km (3,000 to 7,100 mi).[12] In November 2011 Israel tested an ICBM believed to be an upgraded version of the Jericho III.[13]
India has a series of ballistic missiles calledAgni. On 19 April 2012, India successfully test fired its firstAgni-V, a three-stage solid fueled missile, with a strike range of more than 7,500 km (4,700 mi). Missile was test-fired for the second time on 15 September 2013.[14] On 31 January 2015, India conducted a third successful test flight of the Agni-V from theAbdul Kalam Island facility. The test used a canisterised version of the missile, mounted over a Tata truck.[46] On 15 December 2022, first night trial of Agni-V was successfully carried out by SFC from Abdul Kalam Island, Odisha. The missile is now 20 percent lighter because the use of composite materials rather than steel material. The range has been increased to 7,000 km.[16]
An anti-ballistic missile is a missile which can be deployed to counter an incoming nuclear or non-nuclear ICBM. ICBMs can be intercepted in three regions of their trajectory: boost phase, mid-course phase or terminal phase. The United States, Russia, India, France, Israel, and China[49] have now developed anti-ballistic missile systems, of which the RussianA-135 anti-ballistic missile system, the AmericanGround-Based Midcourse Defense, the IndianPrithvi Defence Vehicle Mark-II and the IsraeliArrow 3 are the only systems having the capability to intercept and shoot down ICBMs carryingnuclear,chemical,biological, or conventionalwarheads.
^Science & Global Security, 1992, Volume 3, pp. 101–159 Depressed Trajectory SLBMs: A Technical Evaluation and Arms Control Possibilities[1]Archived 18 March 2013 at theWayback Machine
^Podvig, Pavel (13 December 2007)."Strategic Rocket Forces".Russian Strategic Nuclear Forces.Archived from the original on 14 May 2011. Retrieved20 February 2018.
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