Officials at F.E. Warren AFB, Wyo., have installed a fast-rising secondary door on the launch facility trainer, reports TSgt. Daniel Cox. The addition makes the Wyoming facility the second missile base to receive the $417 million upgrade, which replaces 1960s-era doors with ones that close—despite their seven-ton weight—at a speed of 10 inches per second, as opposed to nine inches per minute with the previous system. Missile crews can secure access to ICBM launcher equipment rooms within 30 seconds vice the older system’s 20 minutes.
The Air Force wants more companies able to produce its new, multi-use, anti-radar missile that one expert says will prove vital in any future peer conflict and would be in high demand for the war in Iran if stocks were available now.