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Summary

This collection consists of digital documents on one 256 GB SunDisk drive gathered by David Stumpf for his book, Minuteman: A Technical History of the Missile That Defined American Nuclear Warfare, a detailed history of the Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missile program.

Biographical / Historical

The Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missile program has served as a component of US nuclear strategies as land-based ICBMs deployed in missile silos. The Minuteman entered service in 1962 as a deterrence weapon that could hit Soviet cities but the US Air Force modified the missile, boosting its accuracy enough to attack military targets, including Soviet missile silos. The Minuteman-II entered service in 1965 with a host of upgrades to improve its accuracy and survivability in the face of an anti-ballistic missile (ABM) system the Soviets were known to be developing. In 1970, the Minuteman-III became the first deployed ICBM with multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRV). By the 1970s, 1,000 Minutemen were deployed as part if the US nuclear arsenal. As of 2020 the force has shrunk to under 400 Minuteman-III missiles as they will be replaced by the new Northrop Grumman Ground Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD) ICBM from 2027 onwards.

Identifier

NASM.2020.0028

Creator

Stumpf, David

Date

1970s - 2010s

Provenance

David K Stumpf, Gift, 2020, NASM.2020.0028

Extent

256 Gigabytes

Archival Repository

National Air and Space Museum Archives

Scope and Contents

This collection consists of digital documents on one 256 GB SunDisk drive gathered by David Stumpf for his book, Minuteman: A Technical History of the Missile That Defined American Nuclear Warfare, a detailed history of the Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missile program.

Arrangement note

Arrangement by donor.

Rights

Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests.

Restrictions

Closed until processed.

Citation

Minuteman ICBM Program Research Data [Stumpf], NASM.2020.0028 , National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.

Topics

Astronautics

Ballistic missiles

Cold War

Minuteman III Missile (LGM-30G)

Type

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Gigabytes