SM-65 Atlas
Videos
Page
The SM-65 Atlas was the first operational intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) developed by the United States and the first member of the Atlas rocket family. It was built for the U.S. Air Force by the Convair Division of General Dynamics at an assembly plant located in Kearny Mesa, San Diego.
Atlas 2E missile, San Diego Aerospace Museum
Theodore von Kármán, left, is joined by Air Force and NASA officials while inspecting two of the models used in the high velocity, high altitude wind tunnels at Arnold Air Force Base. The missiles are AGARD-B and Atlas Series-B. (1959)
Atlas, test number 449, Air Force Missile Test Center.
Launch of an Atlas B ICBM.
Intercontinental ballistic missile
Videos
Page
An intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is a ballistic missile with a range greater than 5,500 kilometres (3,400 mi), primarily designed for nuclear weapons delivery. Conventional, chemical, and biological weapons can also be delivered with varying effectiveness, but have never been deployed on ICBMs. Most modern designs support multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle (MIRVs), allowing a single missile to carry several warheads, each of which can strike a different target. The United States, Russia, China, France, India, the United Kingdom, Israel, and North Korea are the only countries known to have operational ICBMs.
A US Peacekeeper missile launched from a silo
An SM-65 Atlas, the first US ICBM, first launched in 1957
ICBMs can be deployed from transporter erector launchers (TEL), such as the Russian RT-2PM2 Topol-M
Artist's concept of an SS-24 deployed on railway