Improved Launch Control System
The Improved Launch Control System was a system used by the United States Air Force's Minuteman II intercontinental ballistic missile force. The system was a method to transfer targeting information from a Minuteman launch control center to an individual missile by communications lines. Prior to the Improved Launch Control System, new missile guidance had to be loaded at the launch facility; the process usually took hours.
History
[edit]The Improved Launch Control System was operational at most Minuteman II wings (except the 44th Missile Wing, which was never upgraded) by the late 1970s. Minuteman III wings had a similar install, designated Command Data Buffer, providing the newer system the potential for remote retargeting. [1]
Phaseout
[edit]The system was phased out in mid-1990s by the retirement of the Minuteman II force, and the inactivation or reapportioning of units to Minuteman III.[2] It was replaced by the Rapid Execution and Combat Targeting System.
Chronology
[edit]See also
[edit]- LGM-30 Minuteman
- Launch control center (ICBM)
- Command Data Buffer - Minuteman III upgrade similar to the Improved Launch Control System
References
[edit]- ↑ Department of the Air Force: "Strategic Air Command Weapon Systems Acquisition 1964-1979", 28 April 1980
- ↑ FAS.org: Rapid Execution and Combat Targeting
- ↑ Globalsecurity.org: "490th Missile Squadron"
 | This United States Air Force article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by adding missing information. |
 | This article about the military history of the United States is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by adding missing information. |
 | This article related to nuclear weaponry is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by adding missing information. |
- United States nuclear command and control
- Cold War weapons of the United States
- Nuclear weapons of the United States
- Weapons and ammunition introduced in 1979
- 1979 in military history
- 1979 in science
- 1979 establishments in the United States
- United States Air Force stubs
- United States military history stubs
- Nuclear weapon stubs