Pershing II

Pershing II was a two-stage improved version of Pershing Ia that used a maneuverable re-entry vehicle and radar area-correlation guidance, comparing an oncoming target with stored images to greatly improve accuracy. After detonating, its warhead destroyed the target by airburst or earth penetration, and re-entry vehicles could penetrate the ground to a depth of 100 feet before exploding. It also had a new warhead, new propulsion sections, and modified Pershing Ia ground support equipment, while remaining fully compatible with existing Pershing Ia ground equipment. Pershing II was still manpower-intensive, requiring 3,800 men for 108 missiles on launchers. The Deputy Secretary of Defense authorized the Army to proceed with advanced development of Pershing II on 7 March 1974, and the first Pershing II missile firing at White Sands Missile Rarige took place in 1977. Its increased range and pinpoint accuracy were major factors influencing the Soviet Union's decision to seek the Treaty on Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces, in which the United States and the USSR agreed to eliminate an entire class of nuclear missiles. The INF Treaty abolished all medium- and intermediate-range nuclear armed ballistic missiles; the United States and the USSR signed it on 8 December 1987, and the U.S. Senate ratified it on 27 May 1988. Under the treaty, all of the U.S. Army's tactical Pershing II missile stages, launchers, trainers, and deployed reentry vehicles had to be eliminated by May 31, 1991, with a total of 234 Pershing II missiles covered by the treaty. Army contractors completed the destruction of the last Pershing II in May 1991, witnessed by representatives from the Soviet Inspection Team and the U.S. On-Site Inspection Agency. Each side was also permitted to destroy 15 missiles and launchers by disabling them and then permanently exhibiting them in museums and similar facilities.

White Sands, New Mexico · United States