Exploring the gigantic abandoned silo of a Titan I intercontinental nuclear missile

@ElentirENG ES 10·20·2022 · 23:20 0

The Cold War (1947-1991) was a time when huge intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launch facilities were built.

Inside the ruins of a colossal launch complex of Titan I nuclear missiles
Visiting the last silo of a Titan II nuclear missile where you can still see this ICBM

In 1955 the United States launched the Titan program to develop a multi-stage ICBM. The result was the HGM-25A Titan I ICBM. As I told you last summer, between 1960 and 1961 five underground launch centers were built for these missiles in Larson AFB Air Force Base, Washington; Mountain Home AFB, Idaho; Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota; Beale AFB, California; and Lowry AFB, Colorado. Each launch center had three large silos to launch as many missiles. These facilities were colossal in size and housed only 9 people.

The Titan I had a short life: their withdrawal from service was completed in 1965, not even 4 years after their deployment. They were replaced by more modern missiles, the Titan II and the Minuteman I. The Titan I were missiles of a certain size: they were 22.9 meters tall, so they needed quite large underground silos. Each missile had to be ready to launch within 15 minutes. After receiving the launch order, the missile was loaded with liquid oxygen and RP-1 fuel. Then, the missile was raised to the surface using an elevator for launch.

The missile ascended through two stages to a height of 241 kilometers. Then, the vehicle carrying the nuclear warhead rose up to 870 km above the earth's surface, and then made its re-entry following a ballistic trajectory to its target. The forecast was that it would cover up to 8,850 km to its objective, reaching it in 33 minutes. It would have been a war that would have started and ended in just over half an hour.

A few days ago, the Youtube channel Nuclear Bunker Living published a video exploring one of the gigantic silos, now abandoned, of a Titan I missile:

You can see some screenshots of the video here. Below these lines, a gloomy view of the silo from its top.

These facilities look like science fiction, they would be an ideal setting for a movie.

Here we see the upper part of the silo, where the gates were that opened to proceed with the launch of the missile.

As we can see, this silo is currently flooded.