Word: underground
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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...second and third stages would combine to make a 1,500-mile IRBM for use from such close-in bases as those in Europe and Formosa. But the big new dividend of solid fuel is that Minuteman missiles can be fired from Soft, deep, concrete-lined and steel-capped underground cylindrical chambers -"inverted silos...
...Name of project: Minuteman. Nature of Minuteman: a whole new weapons system of 3,000 to 4,000 solid-fuel "second-generation" missiles of variable 500-mile to 5,500-mile range, each to be kept in a state of pushbutton readiness, warheaded, target-aimed, in concealed and dispersed underground launching slots...
...missiles, controlled from one command post, and with individual missiles dispersed to the point that an enemy five-megaton hit on the installation would theoretically take out no more than one Minuteman missile. Each missile will be countdown-ready at all times, will be hooked up electronically to the underground battery command post so that any defect can be spotted. If a red sensing-light flashes trouble, the sick missiles will be removed, replaced at once and repaired at a specially built factory not more than 500 miles away...
There were three critical solid-fuel rocketry breakthroughs: 1) development at Caltech and Aerojet-General Corp. of a new type of solid fuel that will last a year or more inside underground launching cylinders without cracking; 2) development at Massachusetts Institute of Technology of a new-type guidance gyro that can be kept running continuously inside the underground slots for as long as two to three years; 3) successful testing by Thiokol Chemical Corp. of the biggest solid-fuel rocket engine ever built, with more than enough thrust to meet ICBM requirements...
Both Sukarno and Hatta believed that the Axis would win; Sjahrir was convinced the Allies would win. It was therefore easy to apportion the jobs for the next phase of their struggle for independence: Sjahrir would head the underground resistance against the Japanese occupiers, Sukarno and Hatta would collaborate with them. The Dutch administrators and businessmen were herded into Japanese concentration camps, and native bureaucrats, who had never been allowed above the lower rungs of government, took charge under the guidance of Japanese officers. Sukarno was at last in his element, free to roam the country and make countless broadcasts...