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Nuke trucks?

I

insas

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Hello,

A member of my family who was in the Army durring Viet Nam spent the whole time driving around nuke trucks. I would like to try to identify what model truck it was and get him some pics or something. I will try to refresh my info from him, but IIRC he said it had 8 wheels, each tire was approx 6' tall, carried one intercontinental nuke that they could self erect / deploy and launch in <2min.... apperantly it would go pretty much anyware... it was always on the move and he never managed to get it stuck, even when they tried. Anyone know anything about the 'nam-80's era nuke trucks?

Thanks!
 
maddawg308

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And you're going to want to talk to a gent on here known as "cranetruck" - he owns one and has restored it completely. The truck, not the missile.
 
clinto

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I think either E22 or Maddawg are right. It has to be the 757 or the MANN's. What else did we have that was 8x8 at the time?

I doubt he's thinking of those ginormous nuke hauler things form the Fifties. I don't think they were ever deployed outside of Western Europe.

59th FA Bn Pirmasens.jpg280mm Atomic Cannon C-3-39FA 600.jpg280mm Atomic Cannon early 1960s.jpg280mm cannon at Sheridan Kaserne Augsburg.jpg
 
B3.3T

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Those were Intermediate Range Ballistic Missiles (IRBM) not ICBM. We never had truck-mobile ICBMs.
 
I

insas

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Thanks for the pics / input guys! -I'll pass the pics on and see if they are recognized. As far as wheel/tire size... who knows, it could have litterally been 6', or it could have been 'that's the biggest freaking tire i've seen'. What he actually said IIRC, was "about as tall as i am" and he's about 6' tall...

B3.3T said:
Those were Intermediate Range Ballistic Missiles (IRBM) not ICBM. We never had truck-mobile ICBMs.
Click to expand...
Well, I guess that depends on where on what 2 contenents you're shooting to / from... I mean a 9mm could be intercontinental from the right point in europe to the right point in asia...:D


Seriously though, thanks for the corrected term.

Maybe i can find him one on GL:carnac:
 
steelypip

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The term in the business for a 'truck that carries and can launch a ballistic missile' is a Transporter Erector Launcher (TEL). Probably the most famous ones are those that launch SCUDs and their offspring. They're pretty much all tactical IRBMs like the Pershing and Pershing II. The only truly transportable ICBM I know of that was ever even proposed was the 'Midgetman' launcher system proposed as an alternative during the 1980s and made it to prototype stage in the early '90s. There was also talk of putting something like a Midgetman on a rail launcher as well.

As far as I can tell, the real purpose of these proposals was to scare the Soviets to the SALT/START negotiating table, because having a fleet of fully mobile (and thus untargetable) ICBM launchers driving around the USA was an unanswerable nuclear escalation.

The Soviets prototyped one as well, but given the nature of their road network, it would have been a lot harder for them to credibly disperse ICBM launchers that way.
 
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insas

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Here's more info on the truck:

"The P1A looks like the trailer and missile. But my truck was much bigger, 4 axle evenly spaced, all wheel drive, front 2 axles turned, square box cab with no front end. It was something like an MX1 or MXK1"

Thanks!
 
MyothersanM1

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Terex 33-11 haul truck based 8X2 tractors with MX Missile mobile launch platform circa 1979-80. Only two tractors and one launcher built.
terex transporter.jpgterex-mx-8x8-1979.jpg
 
I

insas

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The MAN 8x8 tractors would seem likely, the US Army used at least 4 different models ( M1001, M1002, M1013 and M1014) however they are all based on the KAT 1 which came out in 1976... a few years to late to be the truck in question. The preceeding MAN trucks and HEMITTS were both used to haul the MGM-31 Pershings, but what they replaced is likely what I am trying to find!
 
steelypip

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I vaguely remember some discussion of special railcars for either the MX or the Midgetman in Aviation Leak back in the day. One was never even prototyped, and you can see why.

The sad part, as I understand it, was that the MX was deliberately much bigger than it needed to be because congress liked the idea of having the biggest, tallest missile, as opposed to the most strategically useful missile. No, I'm not kidding. The best thing about the MX is that they're being made into satellite launchers by Orbital Sciences corporation and are now putting on regular shows at Wallops Island, VA.
 
wreckerman893

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11Echo

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