10/12/2026
We visited the Titan II Museum yesterday and took a tour down into the silo!! It was so cool! The Titan II (LGM-25C) was the largest and most powerful liquid-fueled intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) ever fielded by the United States to this day. The two-stage missile stood 103 feet tall, weighed 330,000 pounds loaded, and used hypergolic storable propellants (Aerozine 50 and nitrogen tetroxide) that allowed a rapid launch sequence of under a minute. During the tour, we did a mock launch, and it was so fast! The President had 10 minutes to make a decision once we (theoretically) were attacked; the order was sent to the Pentagon, then to the commander of the base sending the missile (3 bases in the US), then to the silo, which then had to be authenticated. Once that was done, the 2 keys were turned simultaneously, and BOOM, in less than 60 seconds, the ICBM was gone. No take-backs! It carried a massive W-53 thermonuclear warhead with a 9-megaton yield, roughly 600 times more powerful than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. It had an operational range of about 6,000 miles (9,300 km) and a top speed near 16,000 mph, hitting targets in roughly 25 to 30 minutes. After the Cold War and all the treaties were signed, Russia allowed us to keep this 1 silo open as a museum. The silo hatch is permanently open in order to allow Russian satellites to make sure we haven't pulled any funny stuff and armed the Titan II again. It was a very cool experience!
