F.E Warren Air Force Base, Wyoming received a special visit from Defense Secretary Charles T. Hagel on the 9th of January. The 90th Missile Wing resides at this duty station and is responsible for intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) missions. More specifically, they operate and maintain the Minuteman III weapons system.
Intercontinental ballistic missiles are nuclear warheads that can travel over 3400 miles to their intended destination. The United States Air Force only uses the Minuteman III weapons system today for land based ICBM operations. This missile contains multiple warheads that can hit several targets at one time. In total, the United States Air Force maintains 450 of these missiles shared between three Air Force bases. The Minuteman III project was first begun in 1966, with the first deployment of the missile in 1970. There have been several improvements to this weapons system including: a guidance replacement program, a propulsion replacement program, single reentry vehicle, and safety enhanced reentry vehicle. There has been about 7 billion dollars spent on this specific mission, upgrading the 450 Minuteman III missiles, over the past decade.