LGM-25C Titan II

Titan II
	Launch of a Titan II ICBM from underground silo 395-Charlie at Vandenberg AFB, CA in the mid-1960s. (Photo: USAF)
Function	ICBM/Launch vehicle
Manufacturer	Martin
Country of origin	United States of America (USA)
Cost per launch	$3.16m (USD)
Cost per year	1969
Size
Height	31.4 m
Diameter	3.05 m
Mass	154,000 kg
Stages	2
Capacity
Payload to LEO	3,600 kilograms (7,900 lb)
Payload to; 10,000 kilometres (6,200 mi) sub-orbital trajectory	3,700 kilograms (8,200 lb)
Payload to; Polar LEO	2,177 kilograms (4,799 lb)
Payload to; Escape	227 kilograms (500 lb) (500 lb)
Launch history
Status	Retired
Launch sites	Cape Canaveral LC-15, LC-16 & LC-19; Vandenberg AFB LC-395 & SLC-4W
Total launches	106; ICBM: 81; GLV: 12; 23G: 13
Success(es)	101; ICBM: 77; GLV: 12; 23G: 12
Failure(s)	5 (ICBM: 4, 23G: 1)
First flight	12 March 1962
Last flight	18 October 2003
Type of passengers/cargo	Gemini (manned); Clementine
First stage
Engines	2 LR-87
Thrust	1,900 kN (430,000 lbf)
Specific impulse	258 s
Burn time	156 s
Propellant	A-50 Hydrazine/dinitrogen tetroxide
Second stage
Engines	1 LR-91
Thrust	445 kN (100,000 lbf)
Specific impulse	316 s
Burn time	180 s
Propellant	A-50 Hydrazine/dinitrogen tetroxide
	[edit on Wikidata]

The Titan II was an Intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) and space launcher developed by the Glenn L. Martin Company from the earlier Titan I missile. Titan II was originally used as an ICBM. It was later used as a medium-lift space launch vehicle to carry payloads for the Air Force, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). These payloads include the USAF Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) and the NOAA weather satellites. The modified Titan II SLVs (Space Launch Vehicles) were launched from Vandenberg AFB, California up until 2003.

Titan II missile

The Titan II ICBM was the successor to the Titan I, and carried a payload twice as heavy. It also used storable propellants, which reduced the time to launch and permitted it to be launched from its silo. Titan II carried the largest single warhead of any American ICBM.

Guidance

The first Titan II guidance system was built by AC Spark Plug. It used an IMU (inertial measurement unit, a gyroscopic sensor) made by AC Spark Plug derived from original designs from MIT Draper Labs. The missile guidance computer (MGC) was the IBM ASC-15. When spares for this system became hard to obtain, it was replaced by a more modern guidance system, the Delco Universal Space Guidance System (USGS). The USGS used a Carousel IV IMU and a Magic 352 computer.^[1]

Development

The Titan rocket family was established in October 1955, when the Air Force awarded the Glenn L. Martin Company a contract to build an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). It became known as the Titan I, the nation's first two-stage ICBM and first underground silo-based ICBM. The Martin Company recognized that the Titan I could be further improved and presented a proposal to the U.S. Air Force for an improved version. It would carry a larger warhead over a greater range with more accuracy and could be fired more quickly. The Martin company received a contract for the new missile, designated SM-68B Titan II, in June 1960. The Titan II was 50% heavier than the Titan I, with a longer first stage and a larger diameter second stage. The Titan II also used storable propellants, Aerozine 50 and dinitrogen tetroxide. The Titan I, whose liquid oxygen oxidizer must be loaded immediately before launching, had to be raised from its silo and fueled before launch. The use of storable propellants enabled the Titan II to be launched within 60 seconds directly from within its silo. Their hypergolic nature made them dangerous to handle; a leak could (and did) lead to explosions, and the fuel was highly toxic.

The first flight of the Titan II was in December 1961 and the missile, now designated LGM-25C, reached initial operating capability in October 1963. The Titan II contained one W-53 nuclear warhead in a Mark 6 re-entry vehicle with a range of 9,325 miles (15,000 kilometres (9,300 mi)). The W-53 had a yield of 9 megatons. This warhead was guided to its target using an inertial guidance unit. The 54 deployed Titan IIs formed the backbone of America's strategic deterrent force until the LGM-30 Minuteman ICBM was deployed en masse during the early to mid 1960's . Twelve Titan IIs were flown in NASA's Gemini manned space program in the mid-1960s. It was also supposed to be used for a nuclear weapon that the United States claimed had a 35 megaton capability. This would have made this warhead one of the most powerful ever, and in terms of power to weight ratio, advantageous over the B-41 nuclear bomb by almost double.^[2]

Because of the volatility of the liquid fuel, and the problem with aging seals, the Titan II missiles had been scheduled to be retired beginning in 1971. After two accidents, deactivation of the Titan II ICBM system finally began in July 1982. The last Titan II missile, located at Silo 373-8 near Judsonia, Arkansas, was deactivated on May 5, 1987. The deactivated missiles are now in storage at Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona.

A single missile still rests in its silo (without the warhead) and is open to the public as the Titan Missile Museum at Sahuarita, Arizona.

Service history

The Titan II was in service from 1963 to 1987. The original 63 Strategic Air Command missiles were distributed at the Vandenberg AFB training base (nine) plus three rings of 18 missiles each surrounding Davis-Monthan Air Force Base near Tucson, Arizona, at Little Rock Air Force Base in Arkansas, and McConnell Air Force Base in Wichita, Kansas.^[3]

In August, 1965 a fire and resultant loss of oxygen when a high pressure hydraulic line was cut with a torch in a missile silo (373-4) near Searcy, Arkansas killed 53 people, mostly civilian repairmen.^[4] One airman was killed at a site outside Rock, Kansas, on August 24, 1978 when a missile in its silo leaked propellant.^[5]^[6] A leak after a socket rolled off a platform and punctured the Stage I fuel tank subsequently caused the entire silo to explode, killed an Air Force Sergeant and destroyed the silo (374-7, near Damascus, Arkansas) at Little Rock AFB on September 19, 1980.^[7] A "B" grade movie portrays this event, "Disaster at Silo Seven".^{[citation needed]}

Number of Titan II missiles in service, by year:

1963 - 56
1964 - 59
1965 - 59
1966 - 60
1967 - 63
1968 - 59 (3 deactivated at Vandenberg)
1969 - 60
1970 - 57 (3 more deactivated at Vandenberg)
1971 - 58
1972 - 57
1973 - 57
1974 - 57
1975 - 57
1976 - 58
1977 - 57
1978 - 57
1979 - 57
1980 - 56
1981 - 56 (President Ronald Reagan announces retirement of Titan II systems)
1983 - 53
1984 - 43 (Davis-Monthan site closure completed)
1985 - 21
1986 - 9 (Little Rock closure completed in 1987)

Operational units

Each Titan II ICBM wing was equipped with eighteen missiles; nine per squadron with one each at dispersed launch silos in the general area of the assigned base. See squadron article for geographic locations and other information about the assigned launch sites.

308th Strategic Missile Wing 1 April 1962-18 August 1987

Little Rock AFB, Arkansas

373d Strategic Missile Squadron

374th Strategic Missile Squadron

381st Strategic Missile Wing 1 March 1962-8 August 1986

McConnell AFB, Kansas

532d Strategic Missile Squadron

533d Strategic Missile Squadron

390th Strategic Missile Wing 1 January 1962-31 July 1984

Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona

570th Strategic Missile Squadron

571st Strategic Missile Squadron

Titan II launch vehicle

The Titan II space-launch vehicles were purpose-built as space launchers or are decommissioned ICBMs that have been refurbished and equipped with hardware required for use as space launch vehicles. All twelve Gemini capsules, ten of which were manned, were launched by Titan II launchers. The Titan 23B was a Titan II with an Agena third stage that was used to launch reconnaissance satellites.

The Titan II space launch vehicle is a two-stage liquid fueled booster, designed to provide a small-to-medium weight class capability. It is able to lift approximately 1,900 kilograms (4,200 lb) into a polar low-Earth circular orbit. The first stage consists of two ground ignited Aerojet LR87 liquid propellant rocket engines, while the second stage consists of an Aerojet LR91 liquid propellant rocket engine.

The Martin Marietta Astronautics Group was awarded a contract in January 1986 to refurbish, integrate, and launch fourteen Titan II ICBMs for government space launch requirements. These were designated Titan 23G. The Air Force successfully launched the first Titan 23G space launch vehicle from Vandenberg AFB September 5, 1988. NASA's Clementine spacecraft was launched aboard a Titan 23G in January 1994.

References

Gunston, Bill (1979). Illustrated Encyclopedia of the World's Rockets & Missiles. London: Salamander Books. ISBN 0-517-26870-1.
Stumpf, David K. (2000). Titan II: A History of a Cold War Missile Program. Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press. ISBN 1-55728-601-9.

Notes

^ David K. Stumpf. Titan II: A History of a Cold War Missile Program. University of Arkansas Press, 2000. ISBN 1-55728-601-9 (cloth). Pages 63-67.
^ U.S. Department of Energy (2001-01-01). "RESTRICTED DATA DECLASSIFICATION DECISIONS 1946 TO THE PRESENT". FAS.
^ Titan II Missile Base Locations accessed September 12, 2006
^ "Escape Route Blocked in Silo Disaster". Ellensburg Daily Record. Associated Press. August 13, 1965. p. 1. Retrieved 2009-10-18. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
^ "1 killed, 6 injured when fuel line breaks at Kansas Titan missile site". St. Petersburg Times. United Press International. August 25, 1978. p. 4. Retrieved 2009-10-18. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
^ "Thunderhead Of Lethal Vapor Kills Airman At Missile Silo". The Ledger. Associated Press. August 25, 1978. p. 7. Retrieved 2009-10-18. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
^ "Light on the Road to Damascus" Time magazine, September 29, 1980. Retrieved 2009-10-18

v t e Orbital launch systems
List of orbital launch systems Comparison of orbital launch systems
Current	Angara 1.2 A5 Ariane 6 Atlas V Ceres 1 1S Chollima-1 Electron Falcon 9 Block 5 Falcon Heavy Firefly Alpha Gravity-1 GSLV H-IIA H3 Hyperbola-1 Jielong 1 3 KAIROS^† Kaituozhe 2 Kinetica 1 Kuaizhou 1 1A 11 Long March 2C 2D 2F 3A 3B/E 3C 4B 4C 5 5B 6 6A 7 7A 8 11 11H LVM3 Minotaur I IV V C Nuri OS-M1^† Pegasus XL Proton-M PSLV Qaem 100 Qased RS1^† Shavit 2 Simorgh SLS Block 1 Soyuz-2 2.1a / STA 2.1b / STB 2-1v SSLV Starship Tianlong-2 Unha Vega C Vulcan Centaur Zhuque 2
In development	Antares 330 Bloostar Cyclone-4M Deca Epsilon S Eris Gravity-2 Hyperbola-2 Irtysh Kuaizhou 21 31 Long March 9 10 12 Miura 5 MLV Neutron New Glenn New Line 1 NGLV Nova OS-M 2 4 Orbex Prime Pallas-1 Red Dwarf SLS Block 1B Block 2 Soyuz-7 Terran R Tianlong-3 VLM Vega E Zero Zhuque 3 Zuljanah
Retired	Antares 110 120 130^† 230 230+ Ariane 1 2 3 4 5 ASLV Athena I II Atlas B D E/F G H I II III LV-3B SLV-3 Able^† Agena Centaur Black Arrow Conestoga^† Delta A B C D E G J L M N 0100 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 II III IV IV Heavy Diamant Dnepr Energia Epsilon Europa I^† II^† Falcon 1 Falcon 9 v1.0 v1.1 v1.2 "Full Thrust" Feng Bao 1 GSLV Mk I H-I H-II H-IIB Juno I Juno II Kaituozhe-1 Kosmos original 1 2/2I 3 3M Lambda 4S LauncherOne Long March 1 1D^† 2A 2E 3 3B 4A Mu 4S 3C 3H 3S 3SII V N1^† N-I N-II Naro-1 Paektusan^† Pilot-2^† R-7 Luna Molniya M L Polyot Soyuz original FG L M U U2 Soyuz/Vostok Sputnik Voskhod Vostok L K 2 2M R-29 Shtil' Volna^† Rocket 3 Safir 1 1A 1B Saturn I IB V Scout X-1 Blue Scout II^† X-2^† X-2M X-3 X-3M X-4 X-2B^† B A B-1 D-1 A-1 E-1 F-1 G-1 Shavit original 1 SLV Space Shuttle SPARK^† Sparta SS-520 Start-1 Terran 1^† Thor Able Ablestar 1 2 Agena A B D Burner 1 2 Delta DSV-2U Thorad-Agena SLV-2G SLV-2H Titan II GLV IIIA IIIB IIIC IIID IIIE 34D 23G CT-3 IV Tsyklon R-36-O original 2 3 Universal Rocket UR-500 Proton Proton-K Rokot Strela Vanguard Vega original VLS-1^† Zenit 2 2M 2FG 3SL 3SLB 3F Zhuque 1^†
Classes	Sounding rocket Small-lift launch vehicle Medium-lift launch vehicle Heavy-lift launch vehicle Super heavy-lift launch vehicle
This Template lists historical, current, and future space rockets that at least once attempted (but not necessarily succeeded in) an orbital launch or that are planned to attempt such a launch in the future Symbol ^† indicates past or current rockets that attempted orbital launches but never succeeded (never did or has yet to perform a successful orbital launch)

v t e Orbital launch systems developed in the United States
Active	Atlas V**^†† Electron Falcon 9 Block 5 Falcon Heavy Firefly Alpha Minotaur I IV V C Pegasus XL RS1^† SLS Block 1 Vulcan Centaur
In development	Antares 330 Daytona I MLV New Glenn Neutron Nova Red Dwarf SLS Block 1B Block 2 Starship Terran R
Retired	Antares 110/120/130/230/230+^††† Athena I II Atlas B D E/F G H I II III LV-3B SLV-3 Able Agena Centaur Conestoga Delta A B C D E G J L M N 0100 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 II III IV IV Heavy Falcon 1 Falcon 9 v1.0 v1.1 v1.2 "Full Thrust" H-I* Juno I Juno II LauncherOne N-I* N-II* Pilot Rocket 3 Saturn I IB V Scout Space Shuttle SPARK Sparta Terran 1 Thor Able Ablestar Agena Burner Delta DSV-2U Thorad-Agena Titan II GLV IIIA IIIB IIIC IIID IIIE 34D 23G CT-3 IV Vanguard
* - Japanese projects using US rockets or stages ** - uses Russian engines ^† - never succeeded ^†† - no new orders accepted ^††† - used Ukrainian first stage

v t e Aviation lists
General	Aircraft manufacturers civil Aircraft engines manufacturers Flight test centres‎ Test pilot schools Airlines Defunct airlines Helicopter airlines Airports Aerobatic teams Civil Aviation Authorities Gliders Museums Registration prefixes Jet airliners Rotorcraft manufacturers Timeline
Military	Air forces Experimental Missiles UAVs Weapons
Accidents / incidents	Commercial airliners by location Fatalities by death toll General aviation Military By registration
Records	Airspeed Altitude Distance Endurance Firsts Large Most-produced aircraft Most-produced rotorcraft