Minuteman III

missile

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July 23, 2026

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The Minuteman III is an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that has been a core part of the United States' land-based nuclear arsenal since the 1960s. It is the third generation of Minuteman missiles, with the Minuteman I first deployed in 1962. The Minuteman III, deployed between 1970 and 1975, was equipped with multiple independently targeted reentry vehicles (MIRVs), each carrying a thermonuclear warhead.1

In the 1980s, some Minuteman IIIs were upgraded with more powerful warheads and improved guidance systems to target hardened Soviet military sites. Currently, the U.S. ICBM force consists of 450 modernized Minuteman III missiles, each armed with a single warhead, stationed at air force bases in Wyoming, North Dakota, and Montana. The Peacekeeper missile, a more sophisticated ICBM with greater firepower, was deployed from 1986 to 2005 and has since been deactivated.12

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Minuteman missile
The Minuteman III was deployed between 1970 and 1975 with two or three independently targeted reentry vehicles (or MIRVs), each carrying a 170-kiloton thermonuclear warhead. In the 1980s three 335-kiloton warheads were installed on some Minuteman IIIs, along with a more accurate guidance system that gave…
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The Minuteman III was deployed between 1970 and 1975 with two or three independently targeted reentry vehicles (or MIRVs), each carrying a 170-kiloton thermonuclear warhead. In the 1980s three 335-kiloton warheads were installed on some Minuteman IIIs, along with a more accurate guidance system that gave…
Read More

Peacekeeper missile
…of the two- or three-warhead Minuteman III, which it was designed to replace. In addition, the missile’s extreme accuracy—made possible by an inertial guidance system updated in flight by signals from navigation satellites—gave its 300-kiloton thermonuclear warheads greater potential to destroy reinforced missile silos and command bunkers in the Soviet…
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…of the two- or three-warhead Minuteman III, which it was designed to replace. In addition, the missile’s extreme accuracy—made possible by an inertial guidance system updated in flight by signals from navigation satellites—gave its 300-kiloton thermonuclear warheads greater potential to destroy reinforced missile silos and command bunkers in the Soviet…
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rocket and missile system
Multiple warheads
Minuteman III. Deployed in 1970, this three-stage, solid-fueled ICBM carried three MIRVs of an estimated 170 to 335 kilotons. The warheads had a range of 8,000 miles with CEPs of 725–925 feet. Beginning in 1970 the United States also MIRVed its SLBM force with the…
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Minuteman III. Deployed in 1970, this three-stage, solid-fueled ICBM carried three MIRVs of an estimated 170 to 335 kilotons. The warheads had a range of 8,000 miles with CEPs of 725–925 feet. Beginning in 1970 the United States also MIRVed its SLBM force with the…
Read More