Missile Transport

Missile Transport. Ronald Reagan Minuteman Missile State Historic Site. Transporting missiles and their nuclear warheads was not an easy task. However, it was critical that it be done smoothly and efficiently. The Minuteman missile system relied on a process of remove, repair and replace - it was essential that all components , no matter their size, could be transported back to Grand Forks Air Force Base (AFB) to be repaired and that new components could be transported to the Launch Facility (LF) to replace aced or faulty components. , Additionally, throughout its history the missile system saw numerous upgrades. Beginning in 1970, one after the other, all of the missile wing's 150 Minuteman II missiles were removed and replaced with Minuteman III missiles. In order to accomplish the numerous removals, replacements, and transports the Air Force designed special vehicles. , The first special vehicle was the Payload Transporter (PT). The PT was used to handle, transport, install, and remove the reentry system (RS) [and warhead], missile guidance set (MGS), propulsion system rocket engine (PSRE), and support equipment in a controlled environment on 3 air cushioned pallets. All of these components were located near the pointed nose of the missile. To access these components the "maintainers" parked the PT over the top of the silo's launcher closure door and rolled the door open to expose the missile. Maintainers would then attach a hoist to the missile components and raise the components directly into the trailer and transport them back to Grand Forks AFB. , The second special vehicle was the Transporter Erector (TE). The TE was a self contained environmentally controlled system that transported, removed, and installed the Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile downstages [the rocket portion]. To do this, maintainers on the Missile Handling Team (MHT) parked the TE adjacent to the silo, attached it to the stable anchors on either side of the launcher closure door, and erected the TE's hydraulic trailer directly over the silo. The MHT then rolled the launcher closure door open, attached pulleys to the missile, and hoisted it into the trailer. Once the missile was in the trailer, the maintainers would lower the trailer back to the horizontal position and drive the TE and missile back to Grand Forks AFB. The process could be reversed to place a missile into the silo. , The PT and the TE were common sights on eastern North Dakota roads. The movement of these critical nuclear components, complete with warheads, involved special security convoy of numerous Air Force security forces, a U.S. Marshal, and a helicopter flying over head. , Photo captions , An Air Force missile maintainer maneuvers a transporter erector on the missile support base (2006). , With the transporter erector firmly secured to the anchor points adjacent to the launcher closure door, the maintainers begin to erect the trailer (1995). , A fully erected transporter erector lowers a Minuteman missile into a silo at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. The missile was transported from the 321st Missile Wing (Grand Forks) to be test launched (1993).