Frag Out! Magazine
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Another of the planned ICBM concealment systems was the Inland Waterway Vessel. This concept envisaged the construction of nearly 1,400 sets composed of a tugboat and a small barge, intended to carry from one to several ICBMs enclosed in transport-launch containers, together with the required command, communications, and logistical infrastructure. According to the assumptions, these sets would move along more than 35,000 miles of waterways while remaining concealed. ARTICLE TEXT: ALEKSANDER FIEDOREK IMAGES: THE TITAN MISSILE MUSEUM Another of the planned ICBM concealment systems was the Inland Waterway Vessel. This concept envisaged the construction of nearly 1,400 sets composed of a tugboat and a small barge, intended to carry from one to several ICBMs enclosed in transport-launch containers, together with the required command, communications, and logistical infrastructure. According to the assumptions, these sets would move along more than 35,000 miles of waterways while remaining concealed. It was assumed that the entire system would withstand an overpressure of 5 PSI (approx. 0.034 MPa) resulting from the use of Soviet nuclear weapons. According to U.S. calculations, such overpressure levels could occur across more than half of the American inland waterways in the event of a Soviet nuclear strike. The principal shortcomings of this system were identified as its low survivability, ease of detection by modern reconnaissance means, and the substantial threat it would pose to civilian traffic, given that more American Concepts for Concealing Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles in the 1980s Part II www.fragoutmag.com