Stanley R. Mickelsen Safeguard Complex

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File:SRMSC MSR HAER ND-9-B.jpg
Safeguard Complex Missile Site Radar

The Stanley R. Mickelsen Safeguard Complex was a cluster of military facilities near Grand Forks, North Dakota that supported the United States Army's Safeguard anti-ballistic missile program.[1] The complex provided launch and control for 30 LIM-49 Spartan anti-ballistic missiles, and 70 shorter-range Sprint anti-ballistic missiles.

The deployment area of the complex covered the Minuteman launchers of the 321st Strategic Missile Wing, based at Grand Forks Air Force Base, North Dakota. Under the terms of the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, the US was permitted to deploy a single ABM system protecting an area containing ICBM launchers. The total of 100 launchers and 100 missiles was the maximum permitted under the treaty.

The site achieved initial operating capability on 1 April 1975, and full operational capability on 28 September 1975. The complex was deactivated on 10 February 1976, after less than a year of operation. In December 2012, it was purchased by the Spring Creek Hutterite Colony of Forbes, North Dakota, at auction for $530,000.[2][3]

The site was named for Stanley R. Mickelsen, a former commanding general of the U.S. Army Air Defense Command.

Facilities

The complex was centered on the Missile Site Radar (MSR) site, near to Nekoma, North Dakota, home to the Missile Site Radar itself, as well as the 30 Spartan missiles and 16 of the shorter-range Sprints. All missiles were held in underground launch silos.

The remaining Sprint missiles were distributed at four Remote Sprint Launchers at distances of ten to twenty miles from the Missile Site Radar. These were located at:

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The Perimeter Acquisition Radar (PAR) was a separately sited phased array radar intended to detect incoming targets. The radar and site remain in service today as the Perimeter Acquisition Radar Characterization System (PARCS), located at Cavalier Air Force Station.

The MSR and PSR sites are listed in the Historic American Engineering Record, a Heritage Documentation Program.[4]

Images gallery

  • Stanley R Mickelsen Safeguard complex aerial.jpg

    Aerial image of the MSR site

  • Remote Sprint Launch Site No 2.jpg

    Aerial image of Remote Sprint Launch Site No. 2.

  • The PAR, now known as EPARCS, is still in operation

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ "Stanley R. Mickelsen Safeguard Complex: A Strange Pyramid Built in the Middle of Nowhere", from Weather.com
  3. ↑ "Anti-Ballistic Missiles and the Hutterites", by Bryan Burba, Peaceful Societies
  4. ↑ Historic American Engineering Record HAER ND-9-B HAER ND-9-P

External links

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