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Nuclear Missile facts

While investigating facts about Nuclear Missile Silo Locations Map and Nuclear Missile Silo, I found out little known, but curios details like:

The US Military still uses 8 inch floppy disks on outdated IBM computers to run the nuclear missile systems. It's because they are incredibly hard to hack. The computers are essentially air-gapped and the old IBM computers are reliable. They could run for another 40 years with spare parts.

how nuclear missiles are launched?

Submarine K-219, a nuclear submarine that sank in 1986 due to a missile silo leak. It sank in 18,000ft of water, and when located 2 years later, it's missile doors had been forced open and the nuclear missiles it carried were missing.

What is a nuclear missile?

In my opinion, it is useful to put together a list of the most interesting details from trusted sources that I've come across answering what is a nuclear powered cruise missile. Here are 50 of the best facts about Nuclear Missile Launch and Nuclear Missile Silo For Sale I managed to collect.

what nuclear missiles does the us have?

  1. A $350m drillship built in the early '70s by US billionaire, Howard Hughes, to collect 'mineral riches' from the ocean floor was actually a cover for the CIA to be used to lift a lost Soviet submarine, loaded with nuclear missiles, up from the floor of the Pacific Ocean, 3 miles deep

  2. The majority of LSD available in the US in the 1990's came from UCLA Researcher William L. Pickard. He was arrested whilst converting an old nuclear missile Silo into a massive LSD Laboratory.

  3. Kevin Mitnick who was jailed for hacking and spent 8 months of his sentence in solitary confinement, as he was deemed capable of launching nuclear missiles by whistling to NORAD’s modem via payphone.

  4. Russian luitenant colonel Stanislav Petrov went down in history as the man who single-handedly saved the world from all-out nuclear war when he called out an false allarm when the soviet missile detection system claimed six US nuclear missiles have been launched.

  5. Harold Hering, a nuclear missile crewman who was kicked out of the military for asking "How can I know that an order to launch my missiles came from a sane president?"

  6. A Russian named Vasili Arkhipov avoided causing WWIII after refusing his captain's orders to launch nuclear torpedoes at US war ships during the height of the Cuban Missile Crisis. 2 of the 3 officers on board wanted to fire the missile, however a unanimous decision was required.

  7. In 2013 an 82 year old nun broke into a government complex that housed nuclear missiles and spray painted anti-war slogans; she was sentenced to 3 years in prison.

  8. During the Cold War a Soviet Duty Officer whose job it was to report missile strikes to high command, dismissed satellite reports of five inbound missiles, saving the world from nuclear war.

  9. A Russian navy officer, Vasili Arkhipov, opposed his commanding officer's decision to launch a nuclear torpedo in response to US practice depth charges during the Cuban Missile Crisis, thus averting a nuclear war and saving the world

nuclear missile facts
What countries have nuclear missiles?

Nuclear Missile data charts

For your convenience take a look at Nuclear Missile figures with stats and charts presented as graphic.

nuclear missile fact data chart about All the Nuclear Missile Submarines in the World in One Chart
All the Nuclear Missile Submarines in the World in One Chart

Why was the cuban missile crisis the closest to nuclear war?

You can easily fact check why did the us put nuclear missiles in turkey by examining the linked well-known sources.

Russian Navy Officer Vasili Arkhipov was credited with being the single vote that prevented a Soviet Nuclear Strike during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

The US were working on a nuclear cruise missile capable of staying multiple YEARS in the air by pushing air through an open nuclear reactor, heating said air, meanwhile spewing radioactivity everywhere, they even had a working engine, but they abandoned it, deeming it too provocative. - source

Former USSR Lt. Col. Stanislav Petrov prevented a nuclear holocaust and potentially WWIII by going with his "gut feeling" and believing that the USSR's early-warning satellite signal was faulty when it reported that the US had launched 5 ballistic missiles at them - source

A Russian man named Vasili Arkhipov prevented WWIII after refusing his captain’s orders to launch nuclear torpedoes at US Navy battleships during the Cuban Missile Crisis. 2 out of the 3 officers on board the submarine wanted fire the missile, however a unanimous decision was required.

In the 1960s, the U.S. Air Force drew up plans for a 4000-ton nuclear space battleship. It would have been armed with 500 nuclear missiles, propelled by nuclear explosions, and been entirely feasible with contemporary technology. President Kennedy was horrified by the idea and cancelled it - source

When did the us put nuclear missiles in turkey?

Major Harold Hering was discharged from the Air Force in late 1973 for asking the question "How can I know that an order I receive to launch my (nuclear) missiles came from a sane president?" under Richard Nixon.

How does a nuclear powered missile work?

The first nuclear missile test in space "starfish prime" knocked out several allied satellites and disabled communications on Hawaii.

in 1983, Russian Lieutenant Colonel Stanislav Petrov heroically prevented a full retaliatory nuclear attack against the United States and NATO allies when his Oko nuclear early warning system detected 6 missiles coming from the U.S. and he immediately declared it a false alarm.

WD-40 was originally developed to prevent corrosion in nuclear missiles

Camp Century, a top-secret US military base built under the ice sheets of Greenland in 1960 to house missiles. Built under the cover of climate research, it housed 200 people and was powered by the world's first portable nuclear reactor. Denmark didn't uncover the base's existence until 1995.

In 1962, special, hi-tech locks were added to all U.S. nuclear missiles that would prevent launch without a secret, unique launch code. However, military officials quietly circumvented this safeguard by setting every locK to "00000000". The codes remained unchanged until 1977.

When was the first nuclear missile made?

When a Soviet research ship went to check on sunken Soviet submarine K-219 in 1988, it found several of the submarine's missile silo hatches had been forced open, and the missiles, along with their nuclear warheads, were gone.

In 1962, a man named Vasili Arkhipov, a Soviet Naval Officer, cast a single vote that prevented a nuclear attack on the US Navy during the Cuban Missile Crisis and is credited for preventing a thermonuclear World War 3.

During the Cuban Missile Crisis, the captain of a Russian sub, not knowing whether war had broken out, decided to launch a nuclear torpedo. Vasila Arkhipov, the second-in-command, didn't consent and convinced the captain to surface, preventing nuclear war.

There's an edition of Windows called "Windows XP™ for Submarines", and it's run on the United Kingdom's nuclear missile submarines

Since 1967 there has always been a plane in the air above the US which has the ability to retarget and launch nuclear missiles without the crew in the underground missile silos being involved.

Nuclear powered cruise missile how it works?

The US tried to hide nuclear missiles in Greenland without Danish knowledge in Project Iceworm.

4 US airforce officers who hold launch keys to nuclear missiles, once left open a capsule blast door. The door is there to prevent terrorists from entering. Who discovered this? In one case it was a maintenance team, in another case it was discovered by somebody delivering food!

A top secret US Cold War project "Iceworm" to build nuclear missile sites under the Greenland ice sheet. Abandoned due to ice instability it was assumed the chemical and radioactive waste would remain under the ice forever. It's now predicted this waste will re-enter the environment in 2100.

In 1980 A single dropped ratchet in an Air Force missile silo resulted in an ruptured tank that led to an explosion that destroyed the silo and shot a nuclear warhead 100 feet from the complex entry gate. They then just filled in the giant hole.

About Vasili Arkhipov, a Soviet Naval officer who refused to launch a nuclear torpedo during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, averting all-out nuclear war with the United States

In 1983 a Russian radar detected the launch of Minuteman missiles by the U.S. The radar operator correctly identified the detection as a false alarm and is credited with averting a likely counterstrike by the Russians which would have started a nuclear war.

Vasili Arkhipov of the Soviet sub B-59 refused to launch nuclear torpedoes against US warships during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Soviet officers had lost radio contact with Moscow and thought war had begun. 3 officers were needed for launch, Arkhipov held out.

The Grandson of Col Paul Tibbets, the pilot of the Enola Gay (Hiroshima, Aug 6, 1945) is now the second in command of all US Nuclear bomber and missile forces. General Paul Tibbets IV.

The US had about 200 nuclear warheads aimed at Moscow to overcome the city's missile defense. The Soviets themselves expected to intercept no more than one or two.

The world’s most powerful nuclear missile is the Russian SS-18 Satan. It carries 10 nuclear bombs and travels at 7.9 Km/s.

The motto of Russia's nuclear strike missile force is- "After us, it is silence"

The USA tested a nuclear-powered cruise missile in 1961 at Jackass Flats, NV that would hug the terrain at mach 3. During its flight to the target, the missile would have deafened, flattened, and irradiated anyone in its path. The project was cancelled in 1964.

The launch code for nuclear missiles was "00000000" for 15 years

Project Iceworm was the code name for a top secret United States Army program during the Cold War to build a network of mobile nuclear missile launch sites under the Greenland ice sheet. It is now melting and may release toxins into the ocean.

During the height of the Cold War, the combination authorizing nuclear missile launch was "00000000."

This is our collection of basic interesting facts about Nuclear Missile. The fact lists are intended for research in school, for college students or just to feed your brain with new realities. Possible use cases are in quizzes, differences, riddles, homework facts legend, cover facts, and many more. Whatever your case, learn the truth of the matter why is Nuclear Missile so important!

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