| Country: |
United States of America |
| Alternate Name: |
LGM-25C |
| Class: |
ICBM |
| Basing: |
Silo based |
| Length: |
31.30 m |
| Diameter: |
3.05 m |
| Launch Weight: |
149700 kg |
| Payload: |
Single Mk 6 RV |
| Warhead: |
Nuclear 9.0 MT |
| Propulsion: |
2-stage liquid |
| Range: |
15000 km |
| Status: |
Obsolete |
| In Service: |
1963-1987 |
Details
The LGM-25C Titan 2 was an intercontinental-range, silo-based, liquid propellant ballistic missile. It was the largest ICBM ever deployed by the US Air Force and the last liquid fuelled US ICBM. Although it shares a common name with the Titan 1, the Titan 2 represented a considerable advance. Along with a number of technical achievements, the Titan 2 missile’s greatest improvement was that it was the first US silo-based ICBM. Like its predecessor, the Titan 2 lacked both fins and wings, though the stages of the Titan 2 were the same diameter. The primary contractor of the Titan ICBM program was Martin Marietta (now Lockheed Martin).
The Titan 2 missile program was a strategic asset designed primarily for counter-value targets. It was equipped with a very powerful nuclear warhead that, combined with the improved accuracy of the Titan 2, made it quite capable of destroying hardened targets. However, the US policy of the time placed an emphasis on maintaining a nuclear counterstrike force and presumably targeted the warheads against Soviet Union civilian population centers and soft military bases. As the bulk of the US nuclear force would have been deployed on B-52 bombers, the Titan 2 missile would have been deployed against the most vital strategic targets. The large yield of the warhead made it an extremely effective weapon for destroying cities. The placement of the Titan 2 missile in hardened silos would have prevented a Soviet first strike from eliminating the US ICBM force and ensure a retaliatory strike.
The Titan 2 had a range of 15,000 km (9,321 miles) with a reported accuracy of 900 m CEP. This accuracy is obtained from an inertial guidance system that was capable of making flight corrections independent of ground control, allowing for salvos of missiles to be fired. A more accurate guidance system is believed to have been fitted in 1979. It deployed a single Mk 6 Reentry Vehicle (RV) which carried a W-53 9.0 MT nuclear warhead. The missile had a diameter of 3.05 m, a length of 31.30 m and a launch weight of 149,700 kg. The missiles had a two-stage liquid propellant design and reached a speed of 25 times the speed of sound by the time the engines cut off.
The MGM-25A Titan 1 missile program entered development during the mid- to late-1950s, at the same time as the Thor, Atlas, and Minuteman I programs. The Titan 2, an improved version of the Titan 1, started development in 1960 and entered service in 1963. The Titan 1 was retired in 1965 in favor of the Titan 2. In 1982, a total of 47 Titan 2 missiles remained on three Air Force bases. The Titan 2 served until 1987, well past the design life of a typical ICBM. It was likely withdrawn due to age and maintenance issues.(1)
Footnotes
- Duncan Lennox, Jane’s Strategic Weapons Systems 46 (Surrey: Jane’s Information Group, January 2007), 545.
