Atlas E Launch Site 6- U.S. Air Force, 548th Strategic Missile Squadron, Kansas, Wabaunsee County
During the Cold War the United States deployed its first in-ground based Atlas series of Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBM) in sparsely populated areas of the country. The 548th Strategic Missile Squadron was activated in 1961 at Forbes Air Force Base in Kansas and had operational responsibility for nine Atlas E missile launch sites in east central Kansas.
The road in the photograph was the access route to Atlas E Launch Site 6. Most Atlas E sites were built on approximately twenty acres. The launch facility was on five acres surrounded by a 7 foot chain link fence.
The Atlas E missile was stored horizontally in a semi-hardened underground shelter protected by a retractable concrete roof.
Three years after activating Site 6 it was deactivated in 1964.
The U. S. Air Force replaced the Atlas E missile with the more sophisticated Atlas F missile that was stored vertically in hardened underground silos.
Atlas E Launch Site 6- U.S. Air Force, 548th Strategic Missile Squadron, Kansas, Wabaunsee County
During the Cold War the United States deployed its first in-ground based Atlas series of Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBM) in sparsely populated areas of the country. The 548th Strategic Missile Squadron was activated in 1961 at Forbes Air Force Base in Kansas and had operational responsibility for nine Atlas E missile launch sites in east central Kansas.
The road in the photograph was the access route to Atlas E Launch Site 6. Most Atlas E sites were built on approximately twenty acres. The launch facility was on five acres surrounded by a 7 foot chain link fence.
The Atlas E missile was stored horizontally in a semi-hardened underground shelter protected by a retractable concrete roof.
Three years after activating Site 6 it was deactivated in 1964.
The U. S. Air Force replaced the Atlas E missile with the more sophisticated Atlas F missile that was stored vertically in hardened underground silos.