The hidden base that could have ended the world

http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20160729-the-hidden-base-that-could-have-ended-the-world

by yitchelle • 10 years ago

197 94 10 years ago

Nice article. Would love to visit one of these silos one day. NB: I would hope that ALL disused launch silos around the world would have had the warheads decommissioned properly and all accounted for...

jacquesm• 10 years ago

You can own one:

http://www.missilebases.com/

smoyer• 10 years ago

Those bases weren't hidden enough ... it's my understanding that we have the same capability today but with "mobile missles", the enemy can't easily defeat a counter-strike.

ethbro3• 10 years ago

The US nuclear detergent still includes land based missiles as one of its components.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGM-30_Minuteman#Minuteman-I...

chrisseaton• 10 years ago

The US nuclear detergent

chiph3• 10 years ago

The BGM-109G "Gryphon" ground-launched cruise missiles were all destroyed (except a few for museums) as part of the INF treaty. The warheads were put into storage.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1990/04/12/c...

The system used large off-road capable trucks and would drive to one of several pre-surveyed locations in preparation for launch.

Source: The 38th Tactical Missile Wing was at Wueschheim Air Station, just down the road from where I was stationed at Hahn. Also, a friend was a surveyor for the Army, who scouted locations for the Pershing II IRBM in the pre-GPS world.

chakalakasp2• 10 years ago

If by "we" you mean Russia, then yes, you have mobile missiles. America's mobile missiles glide quietly under the ocean in Trident nuclear submarines. All of America's land based launch capabilities are in fixed nuclear silos. They are not and have never been hidden; Russia even gets to come inspect them from time to time (and visa versa) as part of the treaties both nations have signed. Both nations maintain enough weaponry to launch a massive retaliatory strike even if hit with a first strike, it's part of what makes both nations feel secure that neither would be dumb enough to try a sneak attack. For America, some of the silos are placed far north in Montana to make an offensive first strike more effective, some of them are placed further south (Wyoming, Colorado, Nebraska) to give a few more minutes to get missiles off during a surprise attack. The silos are spaced out enough that each would require a ground burst to destroy them, but close enough so that the nuclear debris cloud (mushroom cloud) would potentially damage or destroy incoming warheads (coming in at ludicrous speed) before they made it to the ground. The radioactive cloud that would be farted into the upper atmosphere by the debris clouds from the attacks on these missile fields would probably be responsible for well over half the national fatalities in a counterforce nuclear attack. We're talking hundreds of near-megaton ground bursts.

mikeash5• 10 years ago

All of those ground bursts are conveniently located upwind from where most of our food comes from, too.

arethuza7• 10 years ago

Eric Schlosser's excellent book Command and Control covers the details of what happened when things went horribly wrong at a Titan missile silo:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980_Damascus_Titan_missile_ex...

joosters3• 10 years ago

an airman [...] dropped a socket from a socket wrench, which fell about 80 feet (24 m) before hitting and piercing the skin on the rocket's first-stage fuel tank, causing it to leak

This made me think of the wonderful book 'Ignition!' that has a similar prophetic passage in it:

Say that somebody dropped (accidentally or otherwise) a greasy wrench into 10,000 gallons of 90 percent peroxide in the hold of the ship. What would happen — and would the ship survive?

ethbro3• 10 years ago

Out of interest, did you manage to track down a physical copy or read digital? I've been trying to get one for my father but devilishly hard to find at a reasonable price.

djaychela• 10 years ago

Yes, I came onto this thread to post about that book - it's an absolutely gripping read from start to finish, and tells two stories in one - a specific one and the more general one of nuclear weapons development and safety. I'd thoroughly recommend it to anyone who wants a "thriller" which is realistic (or, indeed real!)

JumpCrisscross3• 10 years ago

It would have been impossible to start World War Three by accident.

"Since 1950, there have been 32 nuclear weapon accidents, known as 'Broken Arrows.' A Broken Arrow is defined as an unexpected event involving nuclear weapons that result in the accidental launching, firing, detonating, theft or loss of the weapon. To date, six nuclear weapons have been lost and never recovered."

http://www.atomicarchive.com/Almanac/Brokenarrows_static.sht...

arethuza7• 10 years ago

That page seems a bit inconsistent, the K-219 was lost with 34 nuclear weapons and they don't seem to have been recovered:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_submarine_K-219

LeifCarrotson• 10 years ago

From the wiki:

K-219's full complement of nuclear weapons was lost along with the vessel.
In 1988, the Soviet hydrographic research ship Keldysh positioned itself over the wreck of K-219, and found the submarine sitting upright on the sandy bottom. It had broken in two, aft of the conning tower. Several missile silo hatches had been forced open, and the missiles, along with the nuclear warheads they contained, were gone.[13 [a book reference]]

The official story, then, is that they were recovered. What are you suggesting?

I suppose the 1988 Soviet media had a few reasons to lie. But still, there are only a few places the warheads could be: In Russian control - they recovered them quickly and didn't want to advertise the capability, and simply didn't tell the Keldysh or the public. Or perhaps the Keldysh's story is true, and they know that because they were the ones who pried open the silos. They could be in American control - we somehow stole them from the sub between the sinking and the survey, and kept it a secret. It sounds like that's the story we are meant to believe. They could be on the sea floor, fired or dropped onto the bottom to make recovery more difficult, or the Keldysh's report was a lie and they're sitting in their tubes on the sub. They could be in the control of some rogue weapons dealer who recovered them, but that seems much less likely than any of the above options. Or perhaps Dirk Pitt used a secret NUMA submersible to recover the missiles from the dangerous Soviet menace, and the warheads are decommissioned and sitting in Admiral Sandecker's basement.

jashephe• 10 years ago

Right, but none of the incidents on that list involved a nuclear missile silo. I read the author's sentence as "It would have been impossible (for Morris or other silo crew members) to start World War Three by accident."

JumpCrisscross3• 10 years ago

"It went to a national security adviser, Zbigniew Brzezinski, who was awakened on 9 November 1979, to be told that the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), the combined U.S.–Canada military command–was reporting a Soviet missile attack. Just before Brzezinski was about to call President Carter, the NORAD warning turned out to be a false alarm. It was one of those moments in Cold War history when top officials believed they were facing the ultimate threat. The apparent cause? The routine testing of an overworked computer system." [1]

Compounded with the thirty-four nuclear missile officers "texting answers to each other on a monthly proficiency exam" in 2014 [2] or the silo whose blast doors were left open while one crew member slept and the other awaited food deliver in 2013 [3], I'm don't see how that claim can continue being held.

[1] http://nsarchive.gwu.edu/nukevault/ebb371/

[2] http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2014/01/15/22317264-34-nucle...

[3] http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/23/us/air-force-nuclear-silo-door... "derelict in his duties in that he left the blast door open in order to receive a food delivery from the onsite chef"

acqq• 10 years ago

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/12/launch-code-for-u...

"Launch code for US nukes was 00000000 for 20 years"

Had it been in a James Bond movie, I'd have laughed "a good gag."

madaxe_again• 10 years ago

And this just one category of risk.

I visited a Soviet silo near Pervomaisk in Ukraine a few years ago. The guide, who had been a subcommander in the final crew, enthusiastically demonstrated how the Soviet standard (flagpole) that stood between the two luxuriously shock-absorbed command chairs could be used to turn both keys from one station - the slotted design in the top of it allows you to simply hook on and push. It was intended as an unofficial but official but unofficial failsafe, so a sole survivor could launch.

Their design was generally very different to US missile complexes - they usually had the command complex in a silo rather than a separate bunker, as they essentially put upended submarines on shock absorbers in them then concreted over the silo cap. Clever leveraging of existing R&D, and means you're just digging silos, and no complex structure.

Also, the Satan missile is a scary, and surprisingly huge, thing.

at-fates-hands• 10 years ago

> Also, the Satan missile is a scary, and surprisingly huge, thing.

There were some current articles on the SATAN 2 missile which is just as scary:

The intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), thought to weigh at least 100 tons, is considered to be the largest atomic weapon-carrying rocket ever produced and is capable of carrying as many as a dozen warheads inside its shell.

With an estimated range of 10,000 kilometers (6,213 miles), the Sarmat missile is “capable of wiping out parts of the earth the size of Texas or France,” Zvezda said.

The report also said that the missile has been designed with stealth technology, which enables it to be fired at a target without being detected by radar systems.

http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2016/05/11/465010/Russia-nucle...

sgt1012• 10 years ago

Also, the Satan missile is a scary, and surprisingly huge, thing.

Oddly I saw a Polaris missile at RAF Duxford recently and was surprised by how small it was, in particular the warhead cowl. Or maybe the one at Duxford is a scale model or something? I know that Polaris's only had a 1500 mile range, maybe the true ICBM's need massive upscale?

marvin• 10 years ago

If I remember correctly, Eric Schlosser's Command and Control recounts an incident where an American nuclear missile crew were erroneously given the order to fire a nuclear missile at the Soviet Union. The person at the other end of the phone had simply read them the incorrect code, intending to give a routine instruction related to maintenance. Launch codes were validated, and by the procedure the missile should have been launched.

Thinking that this was likely an error due to the officer's tone of voice and the present geopolitical situation, the missile crew asked him to repeat the order, and he cheerfully repeated the code for firing the missile. Only after being prompted for a third time did he realize his mistake and relayed the correct encrypted order. The near-accident was not reported at the time.

Iv• 10 years ago

theft???

jhbadger• 10 years ago

I've visited the mentioned Titan Missile Museum outside Tucson -- well recommended. It was recently used to film the reenactment sections of "Command and Control", a documentary based on the book of the same name about the Damascus (Arkansas) incident in 1980 where a Titan missile under maintenance exploded (fortunately not breaching the warhead).

dsq2• 10 years ago

A code to unlock the missile had to be dialed into six thumbwheels of 16 numbers each

Could it be they were using a hexadecimal based system?

Jgrubb• 10 years ago

Thought the same thing, it would have to be no?

dsq2• 10 years ago

You're right, apparently not hexadecimal. I found a photo of the code thumbwheels: http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/55b7d71a371d2279018...

joosters3• 10 years ago

Was this the code that was actually set to 0000000 ?

I can't find the reference, but I'm sure I read somewhere that the launch codes were not properly set up for a long time...

arethuza7• 10 years ago

That was Minuteman missiles and it was 00000000 - so over 10 (or 16) times as secure!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permissive_Action_Link#Develop...

mrec• 10 years ago

It wasn't a "not properly set up" thing, it was the military deliberately pushing back against safeguards they saw as making the US deterrent less credible.

Fej• 10 years ago

"Give peace a chance."

JoeAltmaier3• 10 years ago

Wasn't it true that most bases never got provisioned with a missile? That building them was enough of a deterrent?

GarrisonPrime• 10 years ago

No idea, but I suspect they were all real. The risk of anyone assuming some were fake - and thus thinking the US was bluffing - would have been too high.

JoeAltmaier3• 10 years ago

Its not a bluff is any of them had missiles.

EGreg2• 10 years ago

“The three minutes to get to the silo is a built in security protocol,” Morris explains. “If we didn’t make it in three minutes, the crew underground assumes there is some sort of security situation topside.”

Reminds me of the two Russians who "saved the world" by being the one person to prevent an erroneous nuclear launch:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasili_Arkhipov

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanislav_Petrov

mikeash5• 10 years ago

I find Arkhipov particularly hair-raising. One bad cup of coffee that morning and he might not have been in the mood to argue with the other guys.

Petrov, on the other hand, wouldn't have directly caused a launch had he reported a launch. There was still a good chance that his superiors would have ordered retaliation, it's just not quite as certain.

The excellent and rather terrifying Cuban Missile War alternate-history timeline is based on Arkhipov deciding the other way: http://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/the-cuban-miss...

EGreg2• 10 years ago

Oh man, because of you I just spent 1 hour reading this!

Very impressive work by this guy.

chakalakasp2• 10 years ago

This is an interesting article, but I mean... these bases still exist. They're no secret. Both Russia and the United States have underground missile control facilities that control small clusters of nuclear silos ready to launch at any moment. (Additionally, the U.S. has a large submarine nuclear force that does the same and Russia has a small submarine force ready to do the same, both have a small contingent of bombers, and Russia has quite a few mobile ground based launch platforms).

Living in Nebraska, I drive by the Minuteman silos pretty often when I chase storms. They look like this (I took this a couple years ago): https://www.flickr.com/photos/digicana/14505073893/

There are lots of them. This is a map of just one of the three fields, based out of Warren: http://www.nukewatchinfo.org/nuclearweapons/nebraska,%20colo...

planteen• 10 years ago

I drive through Wyoming to western Nebraska a few times a year and have seen those. I had no idea! I thought they were oil/gas pipeline access.

JoeDaDude• 10 years ago

Atomic tourists may also be interested in visiting the Minuteman Missile National Historic Park. The park features a Missile Alert Facility (including bunker where the operators would turn their keys) and a missile silo at some miles distance.

https://www.nps.gov/mimi/index.htm

arethuza7• 10 years ago

I always thought the Safeguard ABM missile complex looked seriously weird and interesting:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safeguard_Program

blakeyrat• 10 years ago

... and now I know where that amazing location in Fallout 4 was inspired by.

http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Sentinel_site?file=Fo4sentinte...

Glyptodon• 10 years ago

Ever since visiting I find it weird when movies or TV shows have double-key "terrible thing" control systems where both keyholes are within reach of one person.

lisper2• 10 years ago

The missile was launched by two separate keys (also kept in the safe), turned simultaneously and held for five seconds by the commander and deputy. Located on separate consoles, there is no way they could be operated by one person. It would have been impossible to start World War Three by accident.

Seems to me the separate-console defense could have been easily defeated with a simple mechanical contrivance. How hard could it be to make a gadget that lets you turn a key from a distance?

netcraft• 10 years ago

But that wouldn't have been accidental. They weren't necessarily trying to prevent attackers from being able to launch - more that someone couldn't put the wrong key in the wrong hole accidentally.

lisper2• 10 years ago

Read the quoted passage again. "Located on separate consoles, there is no way they could be operated by one person." This was supposed to keep one rogue individual from initiating a launch.

chiph3• 10 years ago

No, the concern was that a deranged officer might launch on their own, without correct authorization and checks from another person. This resulted in the two-man rule.

When I did maintenance on our comm systems in certain areas of the base, there was always someone else with me. Entering alone meant that you would get shot (signs were up saying lethal force was authorized, and they meant it). What's more, our workcenter was divided into teams and members of each team would not be allowed to maintain equipment from the other, to prevent a single person from making unauthorized modifications to both.

Two-man was taken quite seriously.

Someone• 10 years ago

That depends on distance, relative orientation, obstructions between the keys, force required, etc, but chances are it would be easier to take the consoles apart and connect them by wire to a switch that makes two contacts. It probably would also be easier to smuggle such an electromechanical contraption in than smuggling in a five meter pole would be.

Regardless of the method used, I think that would satisfy the goal of making it impossible to start World War Three by accident. It also would be very hard to do it intentionally, but by a single person, as the guards outside the main room wouldn't let a single person stay in the main room, and wouldn't let anybody carry in weird stuff.

eevilspock• 10 years ago

The amount of money and resources spent on this absurd and dangerous game rather than on making the world a better place is a sad commentary on humanity.

All the time I observe adult disdain and condescension toward children for their "childish" fights and arguments and all the "stupid" things they do.

ars• 10 years ago

The exact same titan missile design that is the subject of this article was used to send probes to other planets.

Also, this world was designed with competition in mind, tempered with cooperation. So military competition is to be expected. Lacking competition people tend to stagnate. Too much and they suffer as well - a balance is what is needed. But that balance is not zero military.

CamperBob22• 10 years ago

I haven't seen any world wars lately, have you?

Nuclear weapons are arguably a big part of the reason why.

kevinskii• 10 years ago

“It’s a pin number you have to be able to remember under extreme stress,” says Morris. “How many times have you been in line at the grocery store and can’t remember your pin? We have to be able to remember this code in a war situation.”

Heh.

p_zakharov• 10 years ago

Not feeling on edge today? Read this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanislav_Petrov

The hidden base that could have ended the world

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