MINUTEMAN MISSILE

U.S. ICBM first deployed in 1962.

Its three generations

the Minuteman I (1962–73), the Minuteman II (1966–95), and the Minuteman III (from 1970)

have constituted most of the land-based nuclear arsenal of the U.S. since the 1960s. They were the first U.S. ICBMs to be based in underground silos, use solid fuel, and be fitted with multiple independently targeted reentry vehicles (see MIRV ). Under the terms of the Strategic Arms Reduction Talks , the Minuteman II force was dismantled and the Minuteman III scheduled for downgrading to a single warhead.