Improved Launch Control System

The Improved Launch Control System was a system used by the United States Air Force's Minuteman II intercontinental ballistic missile force. The system was a method to transfer targeting information from a Minuteman launch control center to an individual missile by communications lines. Prior to the Improved Launch Control System, new missile guidance had to be loaded at the launch facility; the process usually took hours.

History

The Improved Launch Control System was operational at most Minuteman II wings (except the 44th Missile Wing, which was never upgraded) by the late 1970s. Minuteman III wings had a similar install, designated Command Data Buffer, providing the newer system the potential for remote retargetting.

Phaseout

The system was phased out in mid-1990s by the retirement of the Minuteman II force, and the inactivation or reapportioning of units to Minuteman III. It was replaced by the Rapid Execution and Combat Targeting System.

Chronology

• 1979
  • 1 Mar - 341 SMW's 490th Strategic Missile Squadron completes the Improved Launch Control System upgrades, at a cost of $365 million.

See also

• LGM-30 Minuteman
• Launch control center (ICBM)
• Command Data Buffer - Minuteman III upgrade similar to the Improved Launch Control System