| Country: |
United States of America |
| Alternate Name: |
MGM-31B |
| Class: |
MRBM |
| Basing: |
Road mobile |
| Length: |
10.61 m |
| Diameter: |
1.02 m |
| Launch Weight: |
7400 kg |
| Payload: |
Single warhead |
| Warhead: |
Nuclear selectable 5 to 50 kT |
| Propulsion: |
2-stage solid |
| Range: |
1800 km |
| Status: |
Obsolete |
| In Service: |
1984-1991 |
Details
The MGM-31B Pershing II was a medium-range, road mobile, solid propellant ballistic missile. It represents the apex of US medium/intermediate-range missile designs, although this has more to do with the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty than technology. The Pershing II was developed to replace the Pershing Ia missile, as the yield on the Pershing Ia was far too high to allow for tactical deployment. The Pershing II was of a similar size to the Pershing Ia and was equipped with vastly superior propulsion and guidance systems. It is believed that the deployment of the Pershing II pressured the Soviet Union into agreeing to abide by the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. The prime contractor for the Pershing II was Martin Marietta Electronics and Missile Ground, now known as Lockheed Martin.
The Pershing II was designed as a theater-based missile. It was intended to deploy low yield nuclear weapons against military targets in the event of the escalation of European war. It was considered possible for nuclear weapons to be deployed tactically during a war without escalation to attacks on population centers, and neither side was willing to be unprepared for that eventuality. The warhead of the Pershing II did not have a high enough yield for effective use against population centers, restricting its use to military targets. Its accuracy is fully sufficient for the destruction of hardened targets, making it ideal to destroy command bunkers and missile silos. Other likely targets include opposing missile forces, command and communication centers, anti-aircraft missile sites, and defensive facilities. Civilian targets such as factory complexes, power plants, etc. could also be attacked with the lowest yield setting; however, this is unlikely due to the possibility to escalation against civilians. As a light and mobile system, the Pershing II could follow the movement of the front and avoid attack.
The Pershing II was roughly the same size as its processor the Pershing Ia, with a length of 10.61 m and a width of 1.02 m, though it is a substantially heavier 7,400 kg. It had a range of 1,800 km (1,118 miles) and carried a W-85 selectable yield warhead, capable of being set between 5 and 50 kT. It used an inertial guidance system coupled with an active radar terminal guidance system, providing a precision accuracy of 50 m CEP. It had a two-stage solid propellant engine.
The Pershing II began development in 1976. It entered service with the US Army in 1984, with 120 deployed through Western Europe. As it was classified as an intermediate-range missile, it was banned by the INF Treaty and by May 1991, all such missiles were destroyed. It is reported that the W-85 warheads removed from the Pershing II missiles planned to be installed in B61 nuclear gravity bombs. The lack of a road mobile, medium-range ballistic missile system forces a reliance on cruise missiles, degrading the US deterrent force.(1)
Footnotes
- Duncan Lennox, Jane’s Strategic Weapons Systems 46 (Surrey: Jane’s Information Group, January 2007), 603-604.
