TheSM-68 Titan (individual variants later designatedHGM-25 Titan I andLGM-25 Titan II) was the designation of twointercontinental ballistic missiles developed for theUnited States Air Force. TheTitan I andTitan II missiles were operational between 1962 and 1987 during theCold War. These missiles, particularly the Titan II, were the basis of theTitan family ofspace launch vehicles.
Titan was originally built as a backup to theSM-65 Atlas. The Titan I usedRP-1 andliquid oxygen propellants and required around fifteen minutes to load the rocket and raise it to a launch position. The more powerful Titan II usednitrogen tetroxide andhydrazine, allowing it to be stored with propellant loaded, giving it a much shorter response time.
TheTitan I was the first version of theTitan family of rockets. It began as a backupICBM project in case theAtlas was delayed. It was a two-stage rocket propelled byRP-1 andliquid oxygen. Using RP-1 and LOX meant that the Titan I did not have a quick launch sequence. It took about fifteen minutes to load LOX on the first missile at a complex, raise it topside and launch it, with two other missiles following at about eight-minute intervals. Titan I was operational from early 1962 to mid-1965.[citation needed]
SeveralUS Air Force units operated the Titan I:[citation needed]
Most Titan rockets were theTitan II, which could carry aW-53nuclear warhead with a nine megatonyield, making it the most powerful ICBM on-standby in the US nuclear arsenal. These were deployed in three squadrons of 18 missiles each, inArizona,Kansas, andArkansas. All of the ICBM Titan II missile sites have been decommissioned since the retirement of the Titan II as an ICBM in 1987, but theTitan Missile Museum onInterstate 19 south ofTucson, Arizona, has preserved one deactivated launch site. The Titan II was a two-stage ICBM that was used by the US Air Force from the mid-1960s to the mid-1980s. The Titan II used ahypergolic combination ofnitrogen tetroxide andhydrazine for propellant. In addition to its use as an ICBM, twelve Titan II missiles were converted to launchGemini spacecraft forNASA, ten of which were crewed. Following retirement, a further thirteen were converted to theTitan 23G configuration, and used to launch satellites, and theClementineLunar probe. The last Titan II launch occurred in 2003.[citation needed]
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