Launching the Titan

Vital equipment for the new flock of U.S. missiles is the launching system that must get the bird into the air as quickly as possible after the fire signal. Last week the Air Force awarded an $81,567,000 contract to American Machine & Foundry Co. to build 36 new launching systems for the Titan ICBM, similar to its prototype system at California's Vandenberg Air Force base. With the new contract, which brings its share of the ballistic missile program to $166 million, American Machine & Foundry will produce and install nine operational launching complexes for each of four missile squadrons.

To protect it against enemy attack, the Titan must be stored underground, and requires a complex of elevator platforms, guidance antennas, fuel-storage and loading systems, and interconnecting tunnels. Once the alert comes, the missile is fueled in minutes and readied for firing. When the word is given, massive doors open at ground level and the Titan begins to emerge, rises until it is ready to blast off on its 5,500-mile journey.

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