What caused the Damascus Titan ICBM accident to occur?
What caused the Damascus Titan ICBM accident to occur?
On September 18, 1980, at about 6:30 p.m., an airman conducting maintenance on the Titan II missile dropped a wrench socket, which fell about eighty feet before hitting and piercing the skin on the rocket’s first-stage fuel tank, causing it to leak.
What year did a Titan II missile blew up in its silo?
1980
The incident occurred on September 18–19, 1980, at Missile Complex 374-7 in rural Arkansas when a U.S. Air Force LGM-25C Titan II ICBM loaded with a 9 megaton W-53 Nuclear Warhead had a liquid fuel explosion inside its silo.
What is the largest US nuclear weapon?
the B83
In the United States’ current nuclear arsenal, the most powerful bomb is the B83, which has a maximum yield of 1.2 megatons, making it 60 times more powerful than the bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan, in 1945. According to the Nuclear Weapon Archive, 650 B83s are in “active service.”
How many Titan II missile silos were in Arkansas?
18
The facility was one of 18 underground Titan II missile silos in Arkansas that helped form the backbone of the United States’ nuclear arsenal from the 1960s until the 1980s. When in service, the 110-foot long, 10-foot wide Titan II missile carried the largest warhead the United States military ever placed on an ICBM.
What is the blast radius of an ICBM?
Individuals can also be injured by falling debris and flying glass shards. The air blast from a 1 KT detonation could cause 50% mortality from flying glass shards, to individuals within an approximate radius of 300 yards (275 m). This radius increases to approximately 0.3 miles (590 m) for a 10 KT detonation.
How many missile silos are in the US?
The United States has many silo-based warheads in service, however, they have lowered their number to around 1800 and have transferred most of their missiles to nuclear submarines and are focusing on more advanced conventional weapons.
How many Titan 2 silos were there?
54 Titan II missile sites
This preserved Titan II missile site, officially known as complex 571-7, is all that remains of the 54 Titan II missile sites that were on alert across the United States from 1963 to 1987.
What state has the most missile silos?
Most silos were based in Colorado, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Missouri, Montana, Wyoming and other western states. The first missile launch facility was located in Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania, however, there was a high school built on top of it in 1985.
Are there still active missile silos in Arkansas?
In Arkansas, three launch sites remain with both launch pads and control centers. These sites in Springhill in Faulkner County, Southside in Van Buren County and Center Hill in White County are now on the National Register of Historic Places.