The previous assessment is innately, historically flawed as is most of Hollywood, and especially those who profess to be experts by simply watching or writing its products. Here are some salient points:
1) Titan II missiles were at THREE separate locations in the U.S.--and none of the sites at Davis Monthan AFB (Tucson, Arizona) were ever involved in a catastrophic accident.
2) The unit in Arizona was merely the first unit to deactivate, and not the last. IN FACT, it was the Arkansas unit--the one which most closely resembled the plot line--which was deactivated about four years later and just before this film's date (1988.)
And by the way,
3) These airframes weren't simply dismantled and discarded, they were RECYCLED into satellite launch boosters. They were the same booster used in the Gemini space program, a connection to a more peaceful mission that the smaller Minuteman or Peacemaker missiles could ever claim.
Further,
4) Both major accidents (one in Kansas, one in Arkansas) were due in large part to policy decisions best typified as Benign Neglect--and not due to any inherent flaw in the DESIGN of the system. These rockets were only meant to last long enough to bridge the gap until Minuteman came on line. When defense dollars get stretched, something always gives.
Moreover,
5) The deactivation of this sophisticated weapon had more to due with a slow change in national STRATEGY, a renewed emphasis on counter-force over counter-value. That and the inevitable/imminent collapse of the Soviet Union. Bottom line: if there still was a U.S. military need for large, land-based ICBM warheads, there would still be Titan II's on alert today.
I ought to know...I was there...and I was honored to serve with the everyday heroes who wrestled this monster rocket system back into prime safety status and onwards to its destiny in Deactivation. That was the real story--that this system finished its War and was transformed into PEACEFUL pruning hooks and plowshares. But if you don't believe me, go visit "The Copper Penny" south of Tucson. It's an entire, fully-preserved, underground Titan II ICBM complex, open daily to the public, and complete with the (drained) missile and (empty) RV shell. Walk top-side to the opened six-foot-high, multi-ton silo Launch Duct Door and peer down into eight stories of the silo's Launch Duct, missile, and warhead. Descend below ground through a series of bank-vault-like Blast Doors into the Control Center and then out to the Silo Equipment Area surrounding the Launch Duct. First see if you can duplicate that full-sensory experience anywhere else in the world...and THEN see what Hollywood has to say about it. Oh, and don't forget to see a sci-fi space flick every once in a while. Something like "Star Trek: First Contact" might do the job...it WAS actually filmed at an Arizona Titan II site. The one known as..."The Copper Penny."
1) Titan II missiles were at THREE separate locations in the U.S.--and none of the sites at Davis Monthan AFB (Tucson, Arizona) were ever involved in a catastrophic accident.
2) The unit in Arizona was merely the first unit to deactivate, and not the last. IN FACT, it was the Arkansas unit--the one which most closely resembled the plot line--which was deactivated about four years later and just before this film's date (1988.)
And by the way,
3) These airframes weren't simply dismantled and discarded, they were RECYCLED into satellite launch boosters. They were the same booster used in the Gemini space program, a connection to a more peaceful mission that the smaller Minuteman or Peacemaker missiles could ever claim.
Further,
4) Both major accidents (one in Kansas, one in Arkansas) were due in large part to policy decisions best typified as Benign Neglect--and not due to any inherent flaw in the DESIGN of the system. These rockets were only meant to last long enough to bridge the gap until Minuteman came on line. When defense dollars get stretched, something always gives.
Moreover,
5) The deactivation of this sophisticated weapon had more to due with a slow change in national STRATEGY, a renewed emphasis on counter-force over counter-value. That and the inevitable/imminent collapse of the Soviet Union. Bottom line: if there still was a U.S. military need for large, land-based ICBM warheads, there would still be Titan II's on alert today.
I ought to know...I was there...and I was honored to serve with the everyday heroes who wrestled this monster rocket system back into prime safety status and onwards to its destiny in Deactivation. That was the real story--that this system finished its War and was transformed into PEACEFUL pruning hooks and plowshares. But if you don't believe me, go visit "The Copper Penny" south of Tucson. It's an entire, fully-preserved, underground Titan II ICBM complex, open daily to the public, and complete with the (drained) missile and (empty) RV shell. Walk top-side to the opened six-foot-high, multi-ton silo Launch Duct Door and peer down into eight stories of the silo's Launch Duct, missile, and warhead. Descend below ground through a series of bank-vault-like Blast Doors into the Control Center and then out to the Silo Equipment Area surrounding the Launch Duct. First see if you can duplicate that full-sensory experience anywhere else in the world...and THEN see what Hollywood has to say about it. Oh, and don't forget to see a sci-fi space flick every once in a while. Something like "Star Trek: First Contact" might do the job...it WAS actually filmed at an Arizona Titan II site. The one known as..."The Copper Penny."