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<title>Safeguard Program</title>

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<span id="openzim-page-title" class="mw-page-title-main"><span class="mw-page-title-main">Safeguard Program</span></span>

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<p>The <b>Safeguard Program</b> was a <a href="United_States_Army" title="United States Army">U.S. Army</a> <a href="Anti-ballistic_missile" title="Anti-ballistic missile">anti-ballistic missile</a> (ABM) system designed to protect the <a href="United_States_Air_Force" title="United States Air Force">U.S. Air Force</a>'s <a href="LGM-30_Minuteman" title="LGM-30 Minuteman">Minuteman ICBM</a> silos from attack, thus preserving the US's nuclear deterrent fleet. It was intended primarily to protect against the very small <a href="People's_Republic_of_China" class="mw-redirect" title="People's Republic of China">Chinese</a> <a href="ICBM" class="mw-redirect" title="ICBM">ICBM</a> fleet, limited <a href="USSR" class="mw-redirect" title="USSR">Soviet</a> attacks and various other limited-launch scenarios. A full-scale attack by the Soviets would easily overwhelm it. It was designed to allow gradual upgrades to provide similar lightweight coverage over the entire United States over time.

</p><p>Safeguard was the ultimate development of an ever-changing series of designs produced by <a href="Bell_Labs" title="Bell Labs">Bell Labs</a> that started in the 1950s with the <a href="LIM-49_Nike_Zeus" class="mw-redirect" title="LIM-49 Nike Zeus">LIM-49 Nike Zeus</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> By 1960 it was clear that Zeus offered almost no protection against a sophisticated attack using decoys. A new design emerged, <a href="Nike-X" title="Nike-X">Nike-X</a>, with the ability to defend against attacks with hundreds of warheads and thousands of decoys, but the cost of the system was enormous. Looking for alternatives, the <a href="Sentinel_program" title="Sentinel program">Sentinel program</a> offered a lightweight cover that would protect against limited attacks. Sentinel began construction in 1968 but ran into a firestorm of protest over its bases being placed in suburban areas. In March 1969, incoming President <a href="Richard_M._Nixon" class="mw-redirect" title="Richard M. Nixon">Richard M. Nixon</a> announced that Sentinel would be cancelled and redirected to protect the missile farms, and that its bases would be placed well away from any civilian areas.

</p><p>The debate about ABM protection of US ICBMs had been going on for over a decade when Safeguard was announced, and the arguments against such a system were well known both in the military and civilian circles. In military circles, the most basic argument against Safeguard was that adding an ABM requires the Soviets to build another ICBM to counter it, but the same is true if the US builds another ICBM instead. The Air Force was far more interested in building more of their own ICBMs than Army ABMs, and lobbied against the Army continually. In the public sphere, opinion by the late 1960s was anti-military in general, and in an era of ongoing <a href="Strategic_Arms_Limitation_Talks" title="Strategic Arms Limitation Talks">Strategic Arms Limitation Talks</a> the entire concept was derided as sabre rattling. Safeguard had been developed to calm opposition but found itself just as heavily opposed. Nixon pressed ahead in spite of objections and complaints about limited performance, and the reasons for his strong support remains a subject of debate among historians and political commentators.

</p><p>Through the Safeguard era, talks between the US and Soviet Union originally started by President <a href="Lyndon_B._Johnson" title="Lyndon B. Johnson">Lyndon B. Johnson</a> were continuing. The <a href="Anti-Ballistic_Missile_Treaty" title="Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty">Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty</a> of 1972 limited the US and Soviet Union to two ABM sites each. Safeguard was scaled back to sites in <a href="North_Dakota" title="North Dakota">North Dakota</a> and <a href="Montana" title="Montana">Montana</a>, abandoning initial work at a site in Missouri, and cancelling all other planned bases. Construction on the two remaining bases continued until 1974, when an additional agreement limited both countries to a single ABM site. The Montana site was abandoned with the main radar partially completed. The remaining base in North Dakota, the <a href="Stanley_R._Mickelsen_Safeguard_Complex" title="Stanley R. Mickelsen Safeguard Complex">Stanley R. Mickelsen Safeguard Complex</a>, became active on 1 April 1975 and fully operational on 1 October 1975. By that time the <a href="United_States_House_Committee_on_Appropriations" title="United States House Committee on Appropriations">House Appropriations Committee</a> had already voted to deactivate it.<sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The base was shut down on 10 February 1976.

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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="History">History</h2></div>

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</style><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main article: <a href="LIM-49_Nike_Zeus" class="mw-redirect" title="LIM-49 Nike Zeus">LIM-49 Nike Zeus</a></div>

<p>An anti-ICBM defensive ABM system was first considered by the US Army in 1955 under the name Nike II. This was essentially an upgraded version of their <a href="MIM-14_Nike_Hercules" class="mw-redirect" title="MIM-14 Nike Hercules">Nike B</a> <a href="Surface-to-air_missile" title="Surface-to-air missile">surface-to-air missile</a> (SAM) along with dramatically improved <a href="Radar" title="Radar">radars</a> and <a href="Computer" title="Computer">computers</a> able to detect the incoming <a href="Reentry_vehicle" class="mw-redirect" title="Reentry vehicle">reentry vehicles</a> (RVs) and develop tracking information while still leaving enough time for the interceptor missile to climb to its altitude. Zeus had limited <i>traffic handling</i> capabilities, designed to deal with a small number of attacking missiles arriving over a period of as long as an hour. It was calculated that an attack of only four missiles arriving within one minute would allow one of the warheads to pass by while the system was busy attacking others, making it relatively easy to attack the Zeus base. However, in an era when ICBMs cost about the same as a <a href="Strategic_bomber" title="Strategic bomber">strategic bomber</a>, such an attack would cost an enormous amount.

</p><p>Through the late 1950s a new generation of much lighter <a href="Thermonuclear_bomb" class="mw-redirect" title="Thermonuclear bomb">thermonuclear bombs</a> cut warhead weight from 3,000 kilograms (6,600 lb) in the case of the original Soviet <a href="R-7_Semyorka" title="R-7 Semyorka">R-7 Semyorka</a> ICBM to perhaps 1,000 kilograms (2,200 lb), and further reductions were known to be possible - the US's <a href="W47" title="W47">W47</a> of the <a href="UGM-27_Polaris" title="UGM-27 Polaris">UGM-27 Polaris</a> weighed only 330 kilograms (730 lb). This meant that much smaller rockets could carry these new warheads to the same range, greatly reducing the cost of the missile, making them far cheaper than bombers or any other delivery system. When <a href="Nikita_Khrushchev" title="Nikita Khrushchev">Nikita Khrushchev</a> angrily boasted that the Soviet Union was producing new missiles "like sausages", the US responded by building more ICBMs of their own, rather than attempting to defend against them with Zeus. Adding to the problems, as the warhead weight dropped, existing missiles had leftover <a href="Throw_weight" class="mw-redirect" title="Throw weight">throw weight</a> that could be used for various <a href="Radar_jamming_and_deception#Mechanical_jamming" title="Radar jamming and deception">radar decoys</a>, which Zeus proved unable to distinguish from the actual RV. The Army calculated that as many as twenty Zeus' would have to be fired to ensure a single incoming missile was destroyed.

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<div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main article: <a href="Nike-X" title="Nike-X">Nike-X</a></div>

<p>Faced with these problems, both the Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations turned to the newly created <a href="DARPA" title="DARPA">ARPA</a> to suggest solutions. ARPA noted that because the decoys were lighter than the actual warhead, they would slow down more rapidly as they reentered the lower atmosphere. They proposed a system using a short range missile that could wait until the warhead was below 100,000 feet (30 km) altitude, at which point the decoys would have been <i>decluttered</i>. Desiring to destroy the missile before it was below 20,000 feet (6.1 km) altitude, combined with the 5 miles (8.0 km) per second terminal speed of the RV meant there were only 2 to 3 seconds to develop a track and shoot the interceptor. This would demand extremely fast missiles, high-performance radars and advanced computers.

</p><p>In 1963, <a href="Robert_McNamara" title="Robert McNamara">Robert McNamara</a> cancelled the upcoming deployment of Zeus and announced that money would instead be provided for research into this new system, now known as Nike-X. Construction on the new <a href="Phased_array_radar" class="mw-redirect" title="Phased array radar">phased array radar</a> and its associated computer systems began at the MAR-I site in <a href="White_Sands_Missile_Range" title="White Sands Missile Range">White Sands Missile Range</a>. MAR could track hundreds of warheads and the interceptor missiles sent to attack them, meaning the Soviets would have to launch hundreds of missiles if they wanted to overwhelm it. And now that decoys were no longer an issue, the cost-exchange ratio fell back to reasonable levels.

</p><p>The Nike-X developed the same sort of trouble as the Zeus before it. In this case it was ironically due to the Soviet's own ABM system which was very similar to Zeus. To ensure they could defeat it, the <a href="US_Air_Force" class="mw-redirect" title="US Air Force">US Air Force</a> began equipping their own ICBMs with decoys, which would defeat the Soviet's Zeus-like system. However, concerned that the Soviets would upgrade their system to Nike-X like performance, they instead began replacing their warheads with lighter ones, and carrying three of them. This meant that every US missile would require three (or six accounting for redundancy) interceptors.

</p><p>When the same calculations were run for Nike-X, it was calculated that they would have to deploy 7,000 <a href="Sprint_missile" class="mw-redirect" title="Sprint missile">Sprint missiles</a>, and the cost-exchange ratio was 20-to-1 in favor of the Soviets. When presented with these numbers, McNamara concluded that deploying Nike-X would prompt to Soviets to build more ICBMs, increasing the risk of an accidental war. From this point on, he opposed building a "heavy" ABM system like Nike-X.

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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Sentinel">Sentinel</h3></div>

<div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main article: <a href="Sentinel_program" title="Sentinel program">Sentinel program</a></div>

<p>In spite of all of these problems, which McNamara repeatedly made public in a series of talks, the Johnson administration was under intense pressure to deploy an ABM system. In 1966 Congress voted to provide deployment funding for Nike-X, although McNamara refused to use it. As the 1967 elections approached, it became clear that this was going to be a major election issue. McNamara proposed arms limitations talks with the Soviets to put upper limits on the numbers of ABMs and warheads, but the <a href="Glassboro_Summit_Conference" title="Glassboro Summit Conference">Glassboro Summit Conference</a> ultimately came to nothing.

</p><p>By late 1967 it was clear the Soviets were not seriously considering limitations, and were continuing deployment of their own ABM system. In September, the Chinese tested their first <a href="H-bomb" class="mw-redirect" title="H-bomb">H-bomb</a>. McNamara and Johnson seized on this as a solution to the problem; a defense against the tiny Chinese fleet was both technically possible and relatively low-cost. Deploying this system would mute the ongoing debate, even over the long term if the option was open to expand the system to Nike-X coverage levels in the future. On 18 September 1967, McNamara announced the Sentinel program, with 17 bases covering all of the US, along with a total of just under 700 missiles, about <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1154941027">

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</style><span class="frac"><span class="num">1</span>⁄<span class="den">10</span></span> the number in a baseline Nike-X.

</p><p>Nixon, having campaigned that the Democrats were deliberately dragging their feet on the ABM, inherited the system with his <a href="1968_United_States_presidential_election" title="1968 United States presidential election">election win</a>. He also inherited a massive <a href="NIMBY" title="NIMBY">NIMBY</a> backlash that blew up in late 1968 when the Army chose to deploy the missiles in suburban locations to allow future expansion to be easier. City-dwellers could tolerate the idea of an armed rocket attack against bombers going on over their heads. They were less comfortable with the concept of nuclear anti-missiles detonating against incoming missiles at low altitudes.

</p><p>The issue came to a head at a meeting outside Boston, when an estimated 1,000 to 2,000 people showed up to express their displeasure in spite of a raging blizzard. Congressmen were flooded by letters from constituents demanding the sites be moved, and Congress was soon threatening to freeze all additional funds for the system. Nixon announced construction would be delayed while the system underwent a review.

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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Safeguard">Safeguard</h3></div>

<p>The review was completed on 14 March 1969 and announced in a lengthy speech made by Nixon and various DoD advisers. The entire concept was reviewed and all possibilities considered fresh. Among these, the idea of a heavyweight Nike-X-like system was considered, but Defense Secretary <a href="Melvin_Laird" title="Melvin Laird">Melvin Laird</a> apparently came to the same conclusion as McNamara before him, stating that the protection the system offered simply didn't justify the cost;

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</style><blockquote class="templatequote"><p>When you are looking toward city defense, it needs to be a perfect or near perfect system because, as I examined the possibility of even a thick defense of cities, I have found that even the most optimistic projections, considering the highest development of the art, would mean that we would still lose 30 million to 40 million lives...<sup id="cite_ref-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></p></blockquote>

<p>However, they disagreed with the concept of a light city defense as well. There was no reason to deploy a system that only worked under contrived circumstances, especially as accepting them as possibilities meant that the enemy was ignoring your deterrent. If that was the case, why have missiles at all? The real issue becomes ensuring they cannot ignore your deterrent, and it was this concept that Nixon chose. Instead of deploying the ABM system to protect cities, the new deployment would protect the missile bases themselves, ensuring that no limited attack could be contemplated. This did not have to be perfect, or even close to it;

</p>

<blockquote class="templatequote"><p>When you are talking about protecting your deterrent, it need not be perfect. It is necessary only to protect enough of the deterrent that the retaliatory second strike will be of such magnitude that the enemy would think twice about launching a first strike.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTENixon1971211_5-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTENixon1971211-5"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>5<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></p></blockquote>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Operation">Operation</h2></div>

<p>Safeguard was a two-layer defense system. The long-range <a href="LIM-49A_Spartan" class="mw-redirect" title="LIM-49A Spartan">Spartan missile</a> would attempt interception outside the Earth's atmosphere. The missile's long range allowed protection of a large geographic area. If the Spartan failed to intercept the incoming offensive missile, the high performance and high speed but short ranged <a href="Sprint_(missile)" title="Sprint (missile)">Sprint missile</a> would attempt an interception within the atmosphere. Both missiles used nuclear warheads, and they relied on destroying or damaging the incoming warhead with radiation rather than heat or blast. The Spartan carried a weapon with a 5 megatons of TNT (21 PJ) yield; the Sprint in the 1 kiloton of TNT (4.2 TJ) range.<sup id="cite_ref-6" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-6"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>6<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

</p><p>The envisioned sequence was as follows:

</p>

<ol><li>Enemy launch detected by <a href="Defense_Support_Program" title="Defense Support Program">Defense Support Program</a> satellites, sensing the hot infrared exhaust of the <a href="Intercontinental_ballistic_missile" title="Intercontinental ballistic missile">ICBM</a> booster.</li>

<li>While in the mid-course phase, the <a href="Ballistic_Missile_Early_Warning_System" title="Ballistic Missile Early Warning System">Ballistic Missile Early Warning System</a> radars in the far north would detect the incoming warheads.</li>

<li>As the warheads approached (but while still in outer space) the Safeguard long-range Perimeter Acquisition Radar (PAR) would detect them, providing filtered information to the shorter-range and more precise Missile Site Radar (MSR).</li>

<li>While the incoming warhead came within range of the MSR, the associated computer systems would calculate intercept trajectories and launch times.</li></ol>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Original_deployment_plan">Original deployment plan</h2></div>

<p>Plans were made in the late 1960s to deploy Safeguard systems in three locations, <a href="Whiteman_Air_Force_Base" title="Whiteman Air Force Base">Whiteman AFB</a>, Missouri, <a href="Malmstrom_Air_Force_Base" title="Malmstrom Air Force Base">Malmstrom AFB</a>, Montana, and <a href="Grand_Forks_Air_Force_Base" title="Grand Forks Air Force Base">Grand Forks AFB</a>, North Dakota, to protect important strategic weapons assets. However the Whiteman AFB location was canceled despite the fact that specific missile and radar site locations had already been selected. Construction was actually commenced at the North Dakota and Montana sites, but only the North Dakota site was completed. Remnants of the incomplete PAR system still remain in rural Montana.<sup id="cite_ref-srmsc-mnt_7-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-srmsc-mnt-7"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>7<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

</p>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Components">Components</h2></div>

<p>The Safeguard system consisted of several primary components, the Perimeter Acquisition Radar, the Missile Site Radar, the Spartan missile launchers, co-located Sprint missile launchers, and Remote Sprint missile launchers.

</p>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Perimeter_Acquisition_Radar_(PAR)">Perimeter Acquisition Radar (PAR)</h3></div>

<p>The PAR was a large <a href="Passive_electronically_scanned_array" title="Passive electronically scanned array">passive electronically scanned array</a> radar that was intended to detect incoming ballistic missile warheads as they crossed over the North Pole region. Potential targets detected by the PAR would be sent to the Missile Site Radar (MSR) and to <a href="North_American_Aerospace_Defense_Command" class="mw-redirect" title="North American Aerospace Defense Command">North American Aerospace Defense Command</a>. Two radar sites were intended to be constructed on the northern border of the United States, one in Montana and one in North Dakota. Construction was begun at both locations, but because of the ratification of the <a href="Anti-Ballistic_Missile_Treaty" title="Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty">Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty</a>, only the site at North Dakota was completed. That site, near <a href="Cavalier%2C_North_Dakota" title="Cavalier, North Dakota">Cavalier, North Dakota</a>, is now operated by the <a href="United_States_Space_Force" title="United States Space Force">United States Space Force</a> as <a href="Cavalier_Space_Force_Station" title="Cavalier Space Force Station">Cavalier Space Force Station</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-8" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-8"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>8<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

</p><p>Remnants of the Montana PAR site are located east of <a href="Conrad%2C_Montana" title="Conrad, Montana">Conrad, Montana</a>, at <span class="geo-inline"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1156832818">

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</style><span class=" nourlexpansion"><a class="external text" href="geo:48.287730555555555,-111.34233055555555"><span class="geo-default"><span class="geo-dms" title="Maps, aerial photos, and other data for this location"><span class="latitude">48°17′15.83″N</span> <span class="longitude">111°20′32.39″W</span></span></span><span class="geo-multi-punct"> / </span><span class="geo-nondefault"><span class="geo-dec" title="Maps, aerial photos, and other data for this location">48.2877306°N 111.3423306°W</span><span style="display:none"> / <span class="geo">48.2877306; -111.3423306</span></span></span></a></span></span>.

</p>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Missile_Site_Radar_(MSR)">Missile Site Radar (MSR)</h3></div>

<p>The Missile Site Radar was the control of the Safeguard system. It housed the computers and a phased array radar necessary to track and hit back at incoming ICBM warheads. The radar building itself is a pyramid structure several stories tall. Construction was begun in both Montana and North Dakota, but only the North Dakota site remains standing. The MSR complex included 30 Spartan missile launchers and 16 Sprint missile launchers.<sup id="cite_ref-9" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-9"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>9<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

</p><p>Remnants of the Montana MSR site <span class="geo-inline"><span class=" nourlexpansion"><a class="external text" href="geo:48.13831,-111.76152"><span class="geo-nondefault"><span class="geo-dms" title="Maps, aerial photos, and other data for this location"><span class="latitude">48°08′18″N</span> <span class="longitude">111°45′41″W</span></span></span><span class="geo-multi-punct"> / </span><span class="geo-default"><span class="geo-dec" title="Maps, aerial photos, and other data for this location">48.13831°N 111.76152°W</span><span style="display:none"> / <span class="geo">48.13831; -111.76152</span></span></span></a></span></span> were dismantled and buried.<sup id="cite_ref-10" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-10"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>10<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

</p>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Remote_Sprint_Launchers_(RSL)">Remote Sprint Launchers (RSL)</h3></div>

<p>Remote Sprint Launchers were established around the MSR main complex in order to place missile launchers closer to their intended targets, and thus reduce the flight range to the targets. Four sites were completed, and they still remain there, 10 to 20 miles (16 to 32 km) around the MSR complex in <a href="Nekoma%2C_North_Dakota" title="Nekoma, North Dakota">Nekoma, North Dakota</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-11" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-11"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>11<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>

</p>

<li><a href="RSL-3" title="RSL-3">RSL-3</a> <span class="geo-inline"><span class=" nourlexpansion"><a class="external text" href="geo:48.76455,-97.98602"><span class="geo-nondefault"><span class="geo-dms" title="Maps, aerial photos, and other data for this location"><span class="latitude">48°45′52″N</span> <span class="longitude">97°59′10″W</span></span></span><span class="geo-multi-punct"> / </span><span class="geo-default"><span class="geo-dec" title="Maps, aerial photos, and other data for this location">48.76455°N 97.98602°W</span><span style="display:none"> / <span class="geo">48.76455; -97.98602</span></span></span></a></span></span> on the National Register of Historic Places, museum</li>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Photo_gallery">Photo gallery</h2></div>

<div class="gallerytext">In May 1969, the US Army Institute of Heraldry approved this shoulder sleeve insignia for Safeguard.</div>

</li>

<div class="gallerytext">Safeguard Missile Site Radar</div>

</li>

<div class="gallerytext">Missile Site Radar Complex sign</div>

</li>

<div class="gallerytext">The Missile Site Radar overlooks missile launchers at the <a href="Stanley_R._Mickelsen" title="Stanley R. Mickelsen">Stanley R. Mickelsen</a> Safeguard complex in <a href="Nekoma%2C_North_Dakota" title="Nekoma, North Dakota">Nekoma, North Dakota</a>.</div>

</li>

<div class="gallerytext">Aerial image of Remote Sprint Launch Site No. 2.</div>

</li>

<div class="gallerytext"> The <a href="LIM-49_Spartan" title="LIM-49 Spartan">LIM-49 Spartan</a> missile was intended to intercept warheads above the earth's atmosphere</div>

</li>

<div class="gallerytext">A Sprint missile being loaded for test firing at White Sands Missile Range, 1967.</div>

</li>

</ul>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Footnotes">Footnotes</h2></div>

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</style><cite class="citation journal cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://srmsc.org/ref1040.html">"Safeguard Data-Processing System"</a>. <i>The Bell System Technical Journal</i>. 1975. <q>Western Electric was the prime contractor for the Safeguard system and Bell Laboratories was responsible for the design</q></cite></span>

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<li id="cite_note-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-2">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite id="CITEREFLester_W._GrauJacob_W._Kipp2002" class="citation journal cs1">Lester W. Grau; Jacob W. Kipp (1 July 2002). "Maintaining Friendly Skies: Rediscovering Theater Aerospace Defense". <i>Aerospace Power</i>. <q>Although it was never fielded, it evolved into the Spartan missile.</q></cite></span>

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<li id="cite_note-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-3">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite id="CITEREFJohn_W._Finney1975" class="citation news cs1">John W. Finney (25 November 1975). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.nytimes.com/1975/11/25/archives/safeguard-abm-system-to-shut-down-5-billion-spent-in-6-years-since.html">"Safeguard ABM System to Shut Down"</a>. <i>New York Times</i>. <q>the utility of Safeguard to protect Minuteman will be essentially nullified in the future</q></cite></span>

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<li id="cite_note-4"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-4">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite id="CITEREFNixon1971" class="citation book cs1">Nixon, Richard (1971). "The President's News Conference of March 14, 1969". <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=5x3It8ZGQOgC"><i>Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States</i></a>. Washington D. C.: Federal Register Division, National Archives and Records Service, General Services Administration. p. 211.</cite></span>

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<li id="cite_note-FOOTNOTENixon1971211-5"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTENixon1971211_5-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFNixon1971">Nixon 1971</a>, p. 211.</span>

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<li id="cite_note-6"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-6">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Usa/Weapons/Allbombs.html">"List of All U.S. Nuclear Weapons"</a>.</cite></span>

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<li id="cite_note-srmsc-mnt-7"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-srmsc-mnt_7-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite id="CITEREFNovak" class="citation web cs1">Novak, David. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://srmsc.org/mnt0000.html">"Safeguard Montana Complex (Malmstrom AFB)"</a>. <i>srmsc.org</i><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">19 November</span> 2016</span>.</cite> Nb: Includes photos and cites James H. Kitchens, "A History of the Huntsville Division (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers)", q.v.</span>

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<li id="cite_note-8"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-8">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.buckley.spaceforce.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/2715043/cavalier-afs-renamed-as-us-space-force-installation/">Cavalier AFS renamed as U.S. Space Force installation</a></span>

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<li id="cite_note-9"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-9">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://srmsc.org/images1/7002c.jpg">"SRMSC Reunion - MSR site large map"</a><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">December 25,</span> 2021</span>.</cite></span>

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<li id="cite_note-10"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-10">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://srmsc.org/mnt0040.html">"SRMSC Reunion - Montana MSR Trip Report"</a><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">December 25,</span> 2021</span>.</cite></span>

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<li id="cite_note-11"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-11">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://srmsc.org/run0120.html">"SRMSC Reunion - RSL Tour Guide"</a><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">December 25,</span> 2021</span>.</cite></span>

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<ul><li><a href="Sharpner's_Pond_Anti-Ballistic_Missile_Site" title="Sharpner's Pond Anti-Ballistic Missile Site">Sharpner's Pond Anti-Ballistic Missile Site</a>, an incomplete radar for the Sentinel program</li>

<li><a href="Strategic_Defense_Initiative" title="Strategic Defense Initiative">Strategic Defense Initiative</a> (SDI), successor to Safeguard</li>

<li><a href="Comparison_of_anti-ballistic_missile_systems" title="Comparison of anti-ballistic missile systems">Comparison of anti-ballistic missile systems</a></li></ul>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="External_links">External links</h2></div>

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<div class="side-box-text plainlist">Wikimedia Commons has media related to <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Safeguard_Program" class="extiw external" title="commons:Category:Safeguard Program">Safeguard Program</a></span>.</div></div>

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<ul><li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.srmsc.org/">Unofficial website of the Stanley R. Mickelsen Safeguard complex</a></li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.fas.org/spp/starwars/program/safeguard.htm">FAS - Safeguard system</a></li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/facility/malmstrom-abm.htm">Global Security - Malstrom ABM site</a></li>

<li>The MSR is listed in the Historic American Engineering Record, survey <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/hhh.nd0046">ND-9-B</a>.</li>

<li>The PAR site is listed in the Historic American Engineering Record, survey <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/hhh.nd0078">ND-9-P</a>.</li></ul></div><div><div class="zim-footer">

This article is issued from <a class="external text" title="Last edited on 2025-01-25" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/?title=Safeguard_Program&oldid=1271654795">Wikipedia</a>. The text is available under <a class="external text" href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en">Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0</a> unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

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