LGM-118A Peacekeeper

The LGM-118A Peacekeeper was the United States Air Force's most powerful, accurate, and technologically advanced intercontinental ballistic missile deterrent. Conceived to replace the Minuteman ICMS, its development began in the early 1970s under the name Missile, Experimental, or MX, and it later received the official name Peacekeeper. The first test took place in 1983 at Vandenberg AFB, California, and Peacekeepers became operational in 1986. Built with an airframe made of a Kevlar epoxy composite, the Peacekeeper was much lighter than previous ICBMs and could carry more warheads. Combined with Multiple Independently Targeted Re-entry Vehicles technology, one Peacekeeper could accurately deliver a number of nuclear warheads on different targets at the same time. A four-stage missile, the Peacekeeper was the first Air Force ICBM to use the cold launch technique similar to the system used to launch missiles from submarines. The Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, START II, signed in 1993 with Russia, removed all multiple-warhead ICBMs. As a result of the changed strategic world situation and START II, the United States deactivated all 50 LGM-118As between 2003 and 2005, and some Peacekeepers were eventually used as satellite launch vehicles.

New Mexico · United States