That Time the U.S. Army Spent $60 Billion On One thing and 1 Day After Finishing It, Threw It Away

In a fenced-off area close to Langdon, North Dakota stands an odd and enigmatic object: a 24-metre excessive truncated concrete pyramid, looming over the prairie. Scattered round its base are different unusual types solid in concrete and metal, and a cluster of low, prefabricated buildings, now empty and slowly rusting away. These are the stays of the Stanley R. Mickelsen Safeguard Complicated, a large effort by america Army to defend its nuclear arsenal from missile assault. The fruits of 20 years of cutting-edge analysis, the complicated took 6 years and $6 billion (about $60 billion in the present day) to construct. But solely at some point after the system got here on-line, america Congress pulled the plug on all the undertaking. Inside 4 months, the sprawling, high-tech complicated was shuttered, decommissioned, and deserted, changing into a crumbling monument to Chilly Struggle paranoia. That is the story of Undertaking SAFEGUARD, the missile defence system that by no means was.

The roots of SAFEGUARD return to the event of the Nike-Ajax and Nike-Hercules missiles within the early Fifties. These weapons had been designed to shoot down Soviet Tu-95 and M-4 manned strategic bombers, which on the time had been the one technique of delivering nuclear weapons. However a brand new technology of nuclear weapons within the type of intermediate-range and intercontinental ballistic missiles had been simply across the nook. Missile-launched warheads had been far smaller and quicker than bombers, plunging down on their targets from outer area at speeds of 6 kilometres per second. It thus turned clear {that a} new sort of protection system can be wanted to counter this coming risk: an anti-ballistic-missile or ABM. So, in 1955, the U.S. Military commissioned a analysis group composed of Western Electrical, Bell Labs, and Douglas Plane to develop an anti-ballistic missile system often called Nike-Zeus.

Nike-Zeus consisted of six primary elements. The primary was the missile itself, developed from the older Nike-Hercules, which might journey at 4 instances the velocity of sound and attain a most altitude of 280 kilometres, permitting it to intercept enemy reentry automobiles above the ambiance. Steering was through a set of moveable fins whereas contained in the ambiance, whereas exhaust gasses vented by means of the fins allowed for maneuvering within the vacuum of area. The missile was armed with 400-kiloton W50 enhanced-radiation nuclear warhead, which destroyed the goal by means of a mix of blast and radiation results.

However essentially the most difficult facet of Nike-Zeus growth was the radar system, which detected and tracked incoming warheads and guided the anti-ballistic missiles to interception. This method comprised 5 primary elements: the Acquisition Radar, which detected incoming warheads at lengthy ranges and alerted the remainder of the system; the Goal Observe Radar, which decided the warheads’ place and trajectory with higher accuracy; the Discrimination Radar, which separated out the warheads from the stays of the rocket booster and different litter; the Missile Observe Radar, which guided the Nike-Zeus missiles to interception; and the Information Processing Centre which tied the entire system collectively. These programs had been marvels of Fifties electronics engineering, incorporating a number of the first large-scale functions of the then-new applied sciences of transistors and modular structure. The target-track radar was in a position to scan some 4 million cubic kilometres of area whereas retaining observe of a number of totally different targets and interceptor missiles.

In 1958, testing of the Nike-Zeus system started at White Sands Missile Vary in New Mexico and Kwajalein Atoll within the Pacific Proving Grounds. Whereas initially the missiles suffered from a wide range of points, together with extreme frictional heating of the steering fins, these had been finally ironed out, and by 1963 the system had efficiently carried out 9 consecutive intercepts, each of Nike-Hercules missiles launched from Kwajalein and Atlas ICMBs launched from Vandenberg Air Drive Base in California. In the meantime, a prototype of the Goal Observe Radar tracked the Echo 1 communications satellite tv for pc at an altitude of three,600 kilometres and efficiently acquired a sign bounced off the moon.

However simply because the Nike-Zeus system was poised to enter service, it was abruptly cancelled by the Division of Protection. There have been many causes for this determination. Firstly, Nike-Zeus was developed below the idea that Soviet ballistic missile deployment would stay comparatively low. Nevertheless, as the us continued to area ever higher numbers of more and more superior missiles, it turned clear that an all-out assault would shortly overwhelm the Nike-Zeus system. Worse nonetheless, developments in nuclear warhead miniaturization allowed missiles to hold a number of inflatable radar-reflector decoys, which might additional litter the radar picture and overwhelm the system. Certainly, Military calculations predicted that at the least 20 Nike-Zeus missiles can be wanted to make sure the destruction of a single enemy warhead. Lastly, experiments like Operation Fishbowl in 1962 had revealed that nuclear explosions within the higher ambiance created giant radio blackout zones, which means the primary few missile intercepts would successfully blind the entire system – and for extra on this phenomenon, please take a look at our earlier video Do Actual EMP Weapons Truly Exist, or Are They Solely a Factor in Motion pictures?

There was additionally appreciable skepticism as to the practicality of ABM programs normally, with Herbert York, head of the Superior Analysis Tasks Administration or ARPA, stating:

“The issue right here is the standard drawback between protection and offenses, measures, countermeasures, counter-counter measures, et cetera, during which it has been my judgment and nonetheless is that the battle is so closely weighted in favor of the offense that it’s hopeless in opposition to a decided offense and that by the way applies to our place with regard to an anti-missile that they could construct. I’m satisfied that we are able to proceed to have a missile system that may penetrate any Soviet protection.”

Nonetheless, the Division of Protection directed the Nike-Zeus’ workforce to develop an much more superior anti-ballistic-missile system, which turned often called Nike X. The Nike X system included plenty of advances over Nike-Zeus. Firstly, as a substitute of conventional rotating-antenna radars, the system included the brand new know-how of phased arrays, which allowed the radar beam to be steered electronically as a substitute of mechanically, vastly rising velocity and accuracy. And as a substitute of 4 radars, the system solely used two: a Perimeter Acquisition Radar or PAR to detect incoming warheads at lengthy ranges, and a Missile Website Radar or MSR to trace the targets and information the interceptor missiles. The system might observe as much as 40 objects concurrently and detect objects as small as a baseball. Much more vital to future technological growth, the info processing system for these radars made in depth use of one other main development in electronics: the built-in circuit.

Secondly, the Nike-X system used not one however two totally different interceptor missiles. The primary of those was the Spartan, an upgraded model of the Nike-Zeus designed for higher velocity and altitude and armed with a 5-megaton W71 warhead. This was designed to intercept warheads shortly after they had been detected by the PAR, whereas they had been nonetheless above the ambiance. Nevertheless, due to the deployment of radar-reflective decoys and different countermeasures, at the least a number of warheads had been anticipated to get by means of this preliminary defence. Fortunately, these countermeasures can be shortly slowed down by atmospheric friction, inflicting the true warheads to change into decluttered – that’s, separated from their decoys and simpler to detect. Sadly, because of their large velocity, the time between the warheads coming into the ambiance and reaching the bottom was measured in seconds, creating a really slim interception window. This secondary, low-altitude interception was carried out by a second sort of missile, the Martin-Marietta Dash. Measuring 8 metres lengthy and weighing 3,500 kilograms, the cone-shaped Dash was one of the spectacular weapons ever developed. Fuel-launched from an underground silo, the two-stage missile accelerated at a whopping 100 Gs, going from 0 to Mach 10 in lower than 5 seconds. So quick was the Dash that inside seconds of launch, atmospheric friction made its casing glow white-hot. This blistering efficiency allowed the missile to intercept incoming warheads at altitudes of as much as 30 kilometres inside 15 seconds.

As with Nike-Zeus, the elements of Nike-X had been examined at White Sands and Kwajalein, the place they carried out follow intercepts on Polaris intermediate-range missiles launched from Navy ships and Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missiles launched from Vandenberg. Between 1963 and 1975, 150 check intercepts had been performed from Kwajalein with a 90% success fee, the final 21 intercepts being full successes. Because the system was anticipated to have the ability to survive a nuclear strike, all the foremost elements – particularly the above-ground radar antennas – needed to be hardened in opposition to the results of blast and radiation. A lot of this analysis was carried out at Canadian Forces Base Suffield in Alberta, Canada, the place in 1964 giant piles of typical explosives had been used to simulate the blast wave from a nuclear weapon. Elements had been additionally uncovered to underground nuclear detonations to check their radiation resistance.

Whereas Nike-X was being developed, world occasions had been making the system’s deployment more and more pressing. On October 16, 1964, the Individuals’s Republic of China efficiently detonated its first atomic bomb, whereas on June 17, 1967 it examined its first thermonuclear or hydrogen bomb. All of the sudden, the bi-polar nuclear contest between america and Soviet Union had change into a tri-polar one. In response to this new risk, on September 18, 1967, U.S. Secretary of Protection Robert McNamara introduced the creation of Undertaking SENTINEL, a system of 17 Nike-X websites scattered round america to defend the nation in opposition to the small anticipated Chinese language ICBM fleet or a restricted strike by the Soviets. To make sure an enough workforce for development and easy accessibility to utilities and different sources, the websites can be constructed simply outdoors main metropolitan areas, with the entire system coordinated from NORAD headquarters in Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado through a system of hardened microwave-tower hyperlinks.

Building quickly started on the primary Perimeter Acquisition Radar website at Sharpner’s Pond, simply outdoors of Boston. However virtually instantly, all the undertaking turned mired in controversy, receiving fierce opposition from a number of sectors. Predictably, residents of communities the place Sentinel websites had been deliberate feared that the installations would flip their properties into targets, and mass protests had been held in a number of cities to oppose their development. In the meantime, authorities scientists continued to query the knowledge of ABS programs – not solely as a result of they is perhaps ineffective, however as a result of they could paradoxically improve the danger of nuclear conflict. This argument was primarily based on the prevailing nuclear doctrine on the time: Mutually-Assured Destruction or MAD, which relied on the flexibility of each superpowers to annihilate the opposite to discourage both from launching a primary strike. An efficient ABM system would dramatically shift this delicate stability of energy, permitting one energy to destroy the opposite whereas remaining impervious to counter-attack. This in flip, the scientists argued, would possibly provoke the opposite energy – on this case, the Soviet Union – into launching a primary strike earlier than the ABM system turned operational. Many politicians additionally opposed Sentinel on the idea of price, together with Pennsylvania Democratic consultant Daniel Flood, who argued that fallout shelters can be more practical than ABMs at saving American lives:

“It’s estimated {that a} shelter system at a value of $2 billion would save 48.5 million lives. The price per life saved can be about $40.00. An lively ballistic missile protection system would price about $18 billion and would save an estimated 27.8 million lives. The price per life saved on this case can be about $700….I personally won’t ever advocate an anti-ICBM program until a fallout program does accompany it. I imagine that even when we don’t have an anti-ICBM program, we nonetheless ought to proceed with the fallout shelter program.^”

The talk over Sentinel reached its peak in 1969 with the election of President Richard Nixon, who agreed to carry an intensive evaluation of the system. This culminated within the Senate authorizing the development of Sentinel on August 7, 1969, the decision passing by solely a single voice. Nevertheless, the scope of the system was significantly narrowed, with the variety of missile websites being lowered from 17 to 12 and the system’s mission shifted from defending the U.S. inhabitants to defending the nation’s offensive weapons installations. On this new guise, Sentinel was re-named SAFEGUARD. Building of the Sharpner’s Pond PAR website was halted, and growth efforts refocused on a pair of websites in North Dakota and Montana to defend the world’s 1,000 Minuteman ICBM websites – a technique often called counterforce protection. In accordance with Secretary of Protection Melvin Laird, this technique minimized lots of the system’s potential shortcomings:

“If you find yourself wanting towards metropolis protection, it must be an ideal or close to excellent system as a result of, as I examined the potential for even a thick protection of cities, I’ve discovered that even essentially the most optimistic projections, contemplating the very best growth of the artwork, would imply that we might nonetheless lose 30 million to 40 million lives…[but] when you find yourself speaking about defending your deterrent, it needn’t be excellent. It’s obligatory solely to guard sufficient of the deterrent that the retaliatory second strike will probably be of such magnitude that the enemy would assume twice about launching a primary strike.”

However simply as development was getting underway, world occasions as soon as once more intervened to vary the fortunes of SAFEGUARD. On Could 26, 1972, President Nixon and Soviet Premier Leonid Brezhnev signed the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty or SALT, which lowered the variety of nuclear weapons programs each nations had been allowed to area. Underneath the phrases of the treaty, the US and USSR might deploy two ABM programs every with a complete of 100 interceptor missiles to defend ballistic missile websites and strategic command headquarters. Consequently, development was halted on the Montana SAFEGUARD website and the finished infrastructure demolished. For budgetary causes it was additionally determined to desert the positioning defending Washington, DC. This left a single ABM website in North Dakota, which was named after Lt. Basic Stanley R. Mickelsen, the primary commander of Military Air Defence Command. Your entire complicated consisted of six separate websites unfold out over an space of some 400 sq. miles. The Perimeter Acquisition Radar, housed in a big concrete dice, was situated outdoors the city of Cavalier, its single radar antenna dealing with north to detect missiles coming over the North Pole. The pyramid-like Missile Website Radar, with a radar antenna in every of its 4 faces for 360-degree protection, was situated close to the city of Langdon. This website additionally housed silos for 30 Spartan long-range missiles and 16 Dash short-range missiles. Lastly, scattered across the surrounding countryside had been 4 Distant Dash Launch or RSL websites with 16 Dash missiles every. The location lastly turned operational on October 1, 1975 – simply 3 days forward of the projected deadline. At its peak, the ability employed 500 army and 1,200 civilian personnel, with the Military finishing up main enhancements to housing, utilities, and different providers in neighbouring cities to accommodate the big inflow of individuals.

However this hyper-advanced defend in opposition to a counter-force strike was to not be, for less than at some point after the SAFEGUARD system turned operational, the U.S. Home of Representatives voted to close it down. The explanations given for the cancellation had been acquainted ones: advances in countermeasures know-how and the usage of A number of Unbiased Reentry Autos or MIRVs would overwhelm SAFEGUARD; the system was too costly; ABMs destabilized the worldwide stability of energy. Moreover, the Chinese language ballistic missile pressure the system was meant to defend in opposition to by no means materialized. The final consensus was that SAFEGUARD was a “system searching for a mission”, whereas Texas Democratic consultant George Mahon acknowledged:

“We have now spent $5.7 billion making ready to defend ourselves in opposition to the intercontinental ballistic missile. The Safeguard system has not been efficient, besides maybe from a beauty standpoint. If we had executed nothing, it might have been the identical.”

But opposite to a well-liked delusion, SAFEGUARD didn’t shut down instantly. It remained lively till November, whereas decommissioning formally started on February 10, 1976. The one a part of the system to stay lively was the PAR, which is operated by what’s now Cavalier House Drive Station. Upgraded and re-designated the Enhanced Perimeter Acquisition Assault Characterization System or PARCS, it’s used to trace satellites and different objects in earth orbit. The opposite system websites had been stripped of their missiles and digital gear and offered to personal house owners. The MSR website is now owned by the Cavalier County Job Improvement Authority, which plans to renovate the property and develop an interpretive centre; whereas the concrete pyramid itself was acquired in 2022 by Bitzero Blockchain Inc, who plan to transform it into a knowledge centre. Lastly, one of many three Distant Dash Launch websites, RSL #3 close to Cavalier, is open for personal excursions.

The SAFEGUARD system was the product of 20 years and $20 billion in analysis and growth – 6 years and $6 billion of which was spent on establishing the Mickelsen complicated itself. Whereas the system’s abrupt cancellation after solely a day of operation might look like a colossal waste of cash and energy, the undertaking was not with out its advantages. Most of the developments in radar in laptop know-how developed for SAFEGUARD are nonetheless in use in the present day, whereas the undertaking was a serious enhance to the native economies and public infrastructure of North Dakota counties surrounding the radar and missile websites. However most significantly, ABM tasks like SAFEGUARD served as key bargaining chips in Chilly Struggle diplomacy, convincing the Soviets to signal arms limitations treaties like SALT and START. These treaties have arguably executed extra to safe world peace in a nuclear world than defence programs like SAFEGUARD ever might.

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