The LGM-30G Minuteman III — a land-based intercontinental ballistic missile — received a $68 million upgrade to decrease load times, officials at Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota announced Monday.
A new device called a Data Transfer Unit replaced the aging Cartridge Tape Unit and Launch Facility Load Cartridge systems. The Data Transfer Unit will cut down on the time it takes to produce and load sensitive information the missiles need in order to launch, according to a press release.
“The DTU loads the Missile Guidance Set, which is the brain of the Minuteman III, with sensitive cryptographic data and other information the missile needs in order to function,” said Capt. Kevin Drumm, 91st Operations Support Squadron ICBM codes operations chief.
The new system not only loads the missile with the information and data required for it to function properly during a normal operating day, but also to launch or prevent a launch, according to the press release.
“The legacy LFLC’s take about 45 minutes to produce the Wing Codes Processing System, and about 30 minutes to load at a launch facility,” Drumm said. “The new DTU takes less than 30 minutes to produce and about seven minutes to load.”
The new DTU also is lighter than the Cartridge Tape Unit, and one DTU can hold the same amount of data as 12 Launch Facility Load Cartridge systems, Drumm said.
Kyle Rempfer was an editor and reporter who has covered combat operations, criminal cases, foreign military assistance and training accidents. Before entering journalism, Kyle served in U.S. Air Force Special Tactics and deployed in 2014 to Paktika Province, Afghanistan, and Baghdad, Iraq.
