ICBM Modernization: Rail Garrison Production Decision and Launch Car Acquisition Should Be Delayed

Abstract

The Rail Garrison concept involves placing a force of 50 missiles on 25 trains, each carrying two Peacekeeper missiles. The trains will be parked inside train alert shelters in secure garrisons at Air Force bases throughout the continental United States. The missiles will be kept on the trains in continuous strategic alert. In the event of national need, the missiles will move onto the nation's railroad network. If necessary, the missiles can be promptly launched from within the train alert shelters. The Air Force's 1988 Selected Acquisition Report estimates Rail Garrison basing acquisition costs to be about $6.8 billion in then-year dollars. This estimate includes costs to develop and procure trains and other basing hardware, facility construction, land acquisition, and five basing verification flight test missiles. It does not include the cost of the 50 missiles in silos that were purchased for the Peacekeeper program.

Open PDF

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Dec 01, 1989
Accession Number
AD1177160

Entities

People

  • Nancy R. Kingsbury

Organizations

  • United States Government Accountability Office

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Space
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Acquisition
  • Air Force
  • Air Force Facilities
  • Contracts
  • Department Of Defense
  • Directives
  • Engineering
  • Flight Testing
  • Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles
  • Military Acquisition
  • National Security
  • Procurement
  • Production
  • Production Engineering
  • Test And Evaluation
  • United States
  • Weapon Systems
  • Weapons

Readers

  • Aerospace logistics and air mobility.
  • Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of Proposed Air Force Base Actions.
  • Missile Defense Systems.