Peacekeeper ICBM Re-Entry Vehicle Land Impacts at the Reagan Test Site

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Association of Air Force Missileers (AAFM)

2 жыл бұрын

Presented from the archives of the Association of Air Force Missileers (AAFM) www.afmissileers.org
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Пікірлер: 110

@n1vg Ай бұрын

I had a friend who worked at KMR, and I worked at Vandenberg. I'd watch the missiles outgoing and she'd watch them incoming 15 or 20 minutes later. I've seen plenty of launches but this is the first video of impacts I've come across.

@FW190D9 3 ай бұрын

The guidance is incredible, how close those vehicles hit to each other, given the 20 miracles that had to take place prior to their re entry

@pirobot668beta Ай бұрын

March of 1980, Camp Irwin California. Me and two other grunts were messing about in the desert, a few miles west of one of the impact ranges. When off duty, there wasn't much to do but hunt for odd bits of shrapnel or spent rounds. We heard a sharp 'crack!' overhead...it was so damn loud, I was sure it was lightning. About a second later, a huge plume of dirt flew up from the far range...something hit, hard! "So that's why the ranges were closed today!" Two days later the ranges were open and we got to see the crater; about 40 feet across, 15-20 feet deep. It didn't look like any bomb crater I'd seen before; the dirt was 'fluffed up' like it had been sifted, and there wasn't any 'shoulder' to the crater. Weird.

@Crabby303 2 жыл бұрын

Awesome. Looks like two of the RV's hit exactly the same spot too, nice!

@atheistpeace7579 9 ай бұрын

it is a great way to test accuracy

@Paul_Sergeyev 2 жыл бұрын

Crazy to think how much kinetic energy an ICBM has even without exploding the core.

@Evan_Bell 2 жыл бұрын

Comparable to conventional explosives.

@MilitaryMatters1 Жыл бұрын

Imagine tungsten steel rods being dropped from low earth orbit lol.

@generalrodcocker1018 Жыл бұрын

@@MilitaryMatters1 c'mon ...

@rickdniu2841 10 ай бұрын

MM III impacts at subsonic… Don’t know if it’s same for MX

@Evan_Bell 7 ай бұрын

@@rickdniu2841MMIII impacts are not subsonic.

@sim-sam 2 ай бұрын

Hey Vlad, some valentine flowers for you.

@ChuckDonaldson-fi7kw 23 күн бұрын

I was working at Kwaj in the late 70's and early 80's in charge of the SDR's on Legan and Gellinam. We "scored" the water and land impacts with the SDR (Splash Detection Radars). The beach crashes were the hardest to "score". You had to play the radar video tape over and over to see the change in the land scape on the beach. We did make a tour of Legan to view the crater the warhead made. Some of the debris went into the warehouse building just up from the beach.

@patrickwalsh2884 2 жыл бұрын

These things are so accurate they could go through your front door after five thousand mile flight. No brag, just fact.

@ksmi9109 2 жыл бұрын

I remember reading that these test sites measure the impact spots of missiles launched 5000 miles away in inches, now that’s something.

@Evan_Bell 2 жыл бұрын

No they couldn't. On a Minimum energy trajectory LGM-30G W87s have a CEP measured on hundreds of meters.

@Tunkkis 2 жыл бұрын

@@Evan_Bell I think the CEP of W87 is specified as 400 feet, which is approximately 130 meters.

@railgap Жыл бұрын

nonsense. Don't brag, cite your "facts".

@railgap Жыл бұрын

@@ksmi9109 whoever wrote what you remember reading just outright lied.

@abizair1832 Жыл бұрын

A highly reliable & effective ICBM, with tens of feet of accuracy? Count me in!

@atheistpeace7579 9 ай бұрын

i believe the most recent unclassified accuracy number is less than four feet

@abizair1832 8 ай бұрын

@@atheistpeace7579 Whatdefuq... :O

@atheistpeace7579 8 ай бұрын

@abizair1832 what part is giving you trouble?

@Evan_Bell 7 ай бұрын

@@atheistpeace7579You mean less than 400 ft.

@atheistpeace7579 7 ай бұрын

@@Evan_Bell you are correct. Just saw that.

@SlapStyleAnims 7 ай бұрын

Wish we still had these :(

@thomasschreiber9559 6 ай бұрын

After the cold war ended they got rid of the newer Peacekeepers and kept the older Minuteman. Seems like they should have done it the other way around.

@pirobot668beta Ай бұрын

Do you really think the US hasn't kept up on research and testing? By treaty, we can't use Peacekeeper with atomic warheads. But we can still use them for other purposes.

@majorborngusfluunduch8694 Ай бұрын

@@thomasschreiber9559The idea was to reduce the nuclear threat, so in that context it makes sense to do it that way.

@xres1329 2 жыл бұрын

Must be about 30-40 year old footage.

@robertzeurunkl8401 2 жыл бұрын

Probably closer to 70 years ago. This looks like late 50s era film.

@costcorotisseriechicken2520 2 жыл бұрын

@@robertzeurunkl8401 Peacekeeper missile isn't nearly that old. Government just intentionally downgrades footage quality from weapons tests to avoid revealing too much.

@TheJonathanc82 2 жыл бұрын

Peacekeeper missiles we’re the designated successor to the minuteman missile models until the program was cancelled. This footage is likely from the 1980s.

@robertzeurunkl8401 2 жыл бұрын

@@costcorotisseriechicken2520 Those sneaky devils! lol. Actually, there were two clues that I should have picked up on. First, obviously, the *name* of the place: "Reagan". And the second was that tone pulse phone ringing sound in the background. ;-)

@railgap Жыл бұрын

whoa, can you teach me to look things up on Wikipedia also, sensei?

@PansiusiakPiotr Жыл бұрын

WTF, did they land in the same place?

@christhesmith 3 ай бұрын

Dang!

@Fearose 2 жыл бұрын

yup same angle

@datboidego Жыл бұрын

Now just imagine a giant nuclear boom 😂

@rdbjrseattle 2 жыл бұрын

Where are missile(s) launched from and accuracy?

@aidanmattson681 Жыл бұрын

Typically Vandenberg AFB and they have a Circular Error Probability in the low hundreds of meters.

@atheistpeace7579 9 ай бұрын

always Vandenberg. we have only launched from there for many decades. the latest unclassified accuracy number is four feet

@hydra70 7 ай бұрын

@@atheistpeace7579 "the latest unclassified accuracy number is four feet" No it isn't. That's laser-guided smart bomb accuracy. Peacekeeper's CEP is estimated to have been around 100 meters, which is still insanely accurate when you're talking about a nuclear warhead with hundreds of kilotons of yield.

@aarongreen1654 4 ай бұрын

@@atheistpeace7579 Nonsense. The *laser guided* GBU-12 Paveway II has a CEP of 3.6 feet, according to Raytheon. No ICBM on Earth has a CEP of 4 feet. These MIRVs are not even maneuverable after they leave the launch vehicle. They are launched on a pre-designated ballistic trajectory like rifle bullets and have absolutely no ability to steer themselves in flight.

@atheistpeace7579 4 ай бұрын

@@aarongreen1654 they have a target. But they can make maneuvers in space.

@Banana_Split_Cream_Buns 4 ай бұрын

Out of curiosity, when they still did atmospheric tests, did any come from an ICBM missile? I suppose that would have been too dangerous.

@vibrolax 3 ай бұрын

Nope. Only us operational test of a ballistic missile was a Polaris SLBM in the Frigate Bird test of Operation Dominic.

@rael5469 2 ай бұрын

In the early 80s I was a Crew Chief on a bomber where they loaded up a nuke.....minus the core.....and dropped it to test the trigger mechanism. I have no idea how often they do that.

@aatkarelse8218 2 жыл бұрын

so that is a lot of boom for a mirv dud, now i can imagine that these would cost a lot to launch but perhaps this would be even better than a hypersonic missile ?

@johnbravo9498 Жыл бұрын

They have a lot of kinetic energy and are coming in at almost 18,000 mph.

@aatkarelse8218 Жыл бұрын

@@johnbravo9498 Orly?

@personzorz Жыл бұрын

@@aatkarelse8218 yes

@spankthemonkey3437 Жыл бұрын

@@aatkarelse8218 I bet you didn't know USA has hyper sonic missiles they are called icbm 🤷🤦🏼😂🤣

@aatkarelse8218 Жыл бұрын

@@spankthemonkey3437 😆

@wrotedog Жыл бұрын

12 warheads Peace Keeper 🚀 missle command.. vs Sarmat2 . Now to make a us tsar Bomba 2

@Banana_Split_Cream_Buns 4 ай бұрын

You are still going to have to drop it from a heavy weight plane. I am not a nuclear physicist but I don't think they have been able to make 50 Mt warheads compact enough to fit onto one of these things. According to Wikipedia, these carried up to 12 x 300kT thermonuclear warheads.

@DAlexMaster Ай бұрын

One powerful warhead is less effective than several low-power warheads with the same total force

@johnbravo9498 Жыл бұрын

800 billion dollars for defense and they can't afford a color camera.

@atheistpeace7579 9 ай бұрын

what would be the point after dark? and you can see the distortion cause by having hypersonic RVs landing close by. if this was a PK it is more than 30 years old

@gaemr_o5147 7 ай бұрын

I heard that they purposely downgrade video quality as to not let any extra details be known

@darthnatas953 Жыл бұрын

Those don't seem very powerful for $70 million each.

@throin1 Жыл бұрын

They normally have nuclear warheads inside, these missiles didn't have any. The explosion you see is purely from the kinetic impact of the inert re-entry vehicle.

@darthnatas953 Жыл бұрын

@@throin1 Just messing with you, my friend.

@encross8058 6 ай бұрын

lol

@Jazzman-bj9fq 2 жыл бұрын

Umm, I don't think that is a re-entry vehicle... That looks more like some kind of light energy weapon discharge to me.

@mhobson2009 2 жыл бұрын

That is what a 6-8 kilometer per second ablative shielded inert warhead looks like. The thing is effectively a low velocity meteor.

@Jazzman-bj9fq 2 жыл бұрын

@@mhobson2009 Maybe I'm thinking old technology from 30 years ago or more but don't they design the nukes for airburst as it does more damage to the city? Or is it these re-entry vehicles are designed to hit missile silos and/or missile control centers?

@mhobson2009 2 жыл бұрын

@@Jazzman-bj9fq That was just a successful MIRV (Multiple Independent Reentry Vehicle) targeting test. Air burst or ground burst for a warhead depends upon the particular target. For enemy missile silos, command bunkers, and other buried facilities you need ground bursts.

@MrBen527 2 жыл бұрын

U would be wrong

@ChemEDan 2 жыл бұрын

@@MrBen527 Nah he's right. US govt has giant space lasers to zap people who go outside in their underpants.