Peacekeeper Rail Garrison Car | |
---|---|
In service | 1990–1991 |
Manufacturer | Rockwell International |
Number built | 2 |
Number preserved | 1 |
Fleet numbers | WECX 1001-1002 |
Capacity | One LGM-118A ICBM |
Operators | United States Air Force |
Specifications | |
Car body construction | St. Louis Refrigerator Car Company |
Car length | 87 ft (26.52 m) |
Width | 10 ft 4 in (3.15 m) |
Height | 15 ft 9 in (4.80 m) |
Weight | 550,000 lb (250,000 kg) or 275 short tons (246 long tons; 249 t) |
Bogies | 4 x 4-wheel |
Coupling system | H Tightlock |
Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge |
The Peacekeeper Rail Garrison was a railcar-launched ICBM that was developed by the United States Air Force during the 1980s as part of a plan to place fifty MGM-118A Peacekeeper intercontinental ballistic missiles on the rail network of the United States.[1] The railcars were intended, in case of increased threat of nuclear war, to be deployed onto the nation's rail network to avoid being destroyed by a first strike counterforce attack by the Soviet Union. However, the plan was canceled as part of defense cutbacks following the end of the Cold War, and the Peacekeeper missiles were installed in silo launchers as LGM-118s instead.