Midgetman missile

MGM-134A Midgetman
Test launch of Midgetman
Type	Intercontinental ballistic missile
Place of origin	United States
Service history
In service	prototype only (1991)
Used by	United States
Production history
Designer	Martin Marietta
Specifications
Weight	13,600 kg (30,000 lb)
Length	14 m (46 ft)
Diameter	1.17 m (3 ft 10 in)
Blast yield	475 kt (1,990 TJ)
Engine	Solid-fuel rocket
Propellant	solid propellant
Operational range	11,000 kilometers (6,800 mi)
Guidance system	Inertial, GPS
Accuracy	90 m (300 ft) CEP
Launch platform	Hard Mobile Launcher (HML)
Transport	Hard Mobile Launcher (HML)

The MGM-134A Midgetman, also known as the Small Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (SICBM), was an intercontinental ballistic missile developed by the United States Air Force.

The Midgetman grew out of a requirement expressed in the mid-1980s by the U.S. Air Force for a small ICBM which could be deployed on road vehicles. Fixed silos are inherently vulnerable to attack, and with the increasing accuracy of submarine-launched ballistic missiles there was a growing threat that the Soviet Union could launch large numbers of missiles from off the coast, destroying most of the U.S. ICBM force before it could be used (first strike). By producing a mobile missile which could not easily be targeted by enemy forces, and thus survive a first strike attempt, the Air Force hoped to reduce this possibility and maintain the ability to deter (second strike). It was also a response to the Soviet development of SS-24 (rail mobile) and the SS-25 (road mobile) ICBMs.

System definition studies for the SICBM (Small Intercontinental Ballistic Missile) commenced in 1984 under an Air Force Program Office, located at Norton AFB, CA, with TRW providing System Engineering and Technical Assistance (SETA) support. Contracts were awarded by the end of 1986 to Martin Marietta, Thiokol, Hercules, Aerojet, Boeing, General Electric, Rockwell and Logicon and authorization to proceed with full scale development of the MGM-134A Midgetman was granted. The first prototype missile was launched in 1989, but tumbled off course and was destroyed over the Pacific Ocean after about 70 seconds. The first successful test flight took place on April 18, 1991.

In design the XMGM-134A was a three-stage solid-fuelled missile. Like the LGM-118 Peacekeeper it used the cold launch system, in which gas pressure was used to eject the missile from the launch canister. The rocket would only ignite once the missile was free of the launcher.