DESCRIBE FOR ME THE ROLE OF THE SITE ACTIVATION TASK FORCE?

The Site Activation Task Force is an organization put here at F.E. Warren Air Force Base to conduct the field work related to the Peacekeeper activation. It is a multi-faceted organization, it has groups from different parts of the Air Force that are all conglomerated here to act as the field assembly -- or the integrating contractor, if you will -- of the Peacekeeper system.

WHAT IS THE TRICKIEST PART OF THAT JOB? IT'S A PRETTY COMPLICATED...

I think that the trickiest part of the job of course is to make sure that all of the hardware gets here in time to support the deployment effort, to work the schedules, because we have a multitude of contractors working on the Peacekeeper, we have a bunch of different delivery points, a bunch of different people that deliver hardware to the field, and we have to pull that all together and make sure that in fact we meet our field deployment schedule.

WE WENT TO VISIT THE TRAINING SILO AND SAW THE DUMMY MISSILE IN THERE. IT SEEMS AN INCREDIBLY SNUG FIT. WAS IT DIFFICULT ADAPTING THE SILO TO THE MISSILE, AND DESIGNING THE MISSILE TO THE SILO? HOW COME IT'S ABLE TO FIT SO PRECISELY IN A SILO THAT WAS BUILT FOR A DIFFERENT PURPOSE?

The Peacekeeper missile of course uses a different launch system than the Minuteman. It uses the cold-launch technique where it's ejected from a canister. It was designed early on to be able to fit into an existing Minuteman silo, and because of the fact that it uses that cold-launch technique with a canister system it's a very adaptable missile. It would work in a multitude of different basing modes, if you will. The silo of course was the first basing mode that we had picked for the missile, and it was designed go into the Minuteman silo with very little modification to the silo. You're right, it is a snug fit.

SO RIGHT FROM THE START IN THE DESIGN OF THE MISSILE. HOW FAR BACK WAS THE DESIGN SETTLED ON? THE SIZE AND SHAPE OF THE MISSILE, AND WAS IT AT THAT TIME PLANNED THAT IT MIGHT GO INTO A MINUTEMAN SILO?

Yeah, the Peacekeeper missile was really started back in the '70s as far as the design. Of course it evolved over the years, and really was not flown until the early 1980s. But the missile was in fact originally considered as a replacement for the Minuteman, and a lot of the design criteria that went into the Peacekeeper was in fact to take advantage of some of the existing Minuteman technologies.

WHAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT DIFFERENCE?

I think the most important technology changes between the Peacekeeper and the Minuteman is the accuracy of the guidance system on the Peacekeeper; and the fact that it can carry more re-entry vehicles.

WHAT IS ITS PRIMARILY ROLE ENVISAGED AS BEING?

I think you really ought to address that back to my parent office -- Ballistic Missile Office -- or to SAC, who is the operator of the system.

OKAY, LET'S GET BACK TO THE ROLE OF THE TASK FORCE, AND TRYING TO GET THAT MISSILE INTO THAT SILO. WHAT SORT OF MODIFICATIONS DID YOU HAVE TO DO TO THE SILO? WERE THEY VERY EXTENSIVE?

The modifications to the Minuteman silo -- really there are several phases that we go through. One is a minor change to the top side of the site, where we stay within the existing fence line but modify the maneuvering area on the top of the site; there is some structural modifications to the site where we have to change the attach points for where the canister goes into the site versus where the Minuteman suspension system goes in; and some very minor electronic modifications to the site -- and that's basically the extent of it.

HOW RAPIDLY ARE YOU ABLE TO START ADDING MISSILES TO THE INVENTORY NOW? TO THE DEPLOYED INVENTORY.

We're on a program now where we're on a three and a half month cycle as far as modifying sites, so about every three and a half months we complete a site. We have several in work at a given time.

SO HOW MANY -- GIVE ME SOME SENSE OF WHERE YOU ARE IN THE TOTAL DEPLOYMENT PHASE.

We're approximately halfway through the total deployment of the 50 Peacekeeper missiles.

WHAT ABOUT SUBSEQUENT MISSILES, HOW WILL THEY BE DEPLOYED?

The subsequent basing mode for the remaining 50 Peacekeeper missiles is the result of some study right now. The currently proposed mode for that by President Reagan is in fact a rail garrison basing mode. That has not been settled upon by Congress, of course.

IS THAT ONE THAT'S BEEN CONSIDERED BEFORE? YOU'RE NOT STARTING FROM SCRATCH IN TRYING TO DEVELOP THAT SYSTEM ARE YOU?

I, again, would like to defer that back to Ballistic Missile Office.

OKAY... YOU MENTIONED THAT IT WAS A COLD-LAUNCH SYSTEM. CAN YOU TELL ME WHAT THE ADVANTAGE OF A COLD-LAUNCH SYSTEM IS, AND JUST SPELL OUT FOR ME HOW THAT WORKS?

Well a cold-launch system is a system where you eject a missile from the silo, and then the engines actually ignite above the silo -- about a hundred feet in the air is where we ignite the engines. The advantage was it enables you to get out of a silo, that helped it to fit into the existing Minuteman silo. It also has advantages in terms of other basing modes, where once you canisterize a missile and put it into a launch tube, then it's very adaptable to almost any type of a launch scenario. It gives some advantages also in terms of being able to impart some momentum to the missile before you ignite the engines.

I SEE. SO WHATEVER BASING MODE... IS NOW USED AND MIGHT BE USED IN THE FUTURE, THE FACT THAT IT IS IN A CANISTER MAKES IT VERY VERSATILE?

Certainly that makes a very adaptable missile.

...COULD YOU JUST MAKE THAT POINT?

Certainly. The canisterized missile allows us to adapt to the missile and the launch system to a variety of basing modes, for instance the rail garrison mode that is proposed, the canisterized missile could be put on a rail car with very little change to the launch system. It also made it very adaptable to the silo system, and in fact any of the systems that were being proposed back in the late '70s and early '80s. The canisterized concept stayed with us and was adaptable to all of those different systems.

WHY WERE SO MANY BASING MODES CONSIDERED?

Again, I'd like to defer that to BMO.

OKAY, LET'S CUT.