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Comment by benjam47 | Hacker News Reader

I live several miles from a Minuteman silo in Montana, maintained by Malmstrom Air Force Base. The underground cabling between sites is also an interesting read (https://minutemanmissile.com/hics.html). Anytime I want to dig on my property, I have to make sure it won't interfere with their pressurized cables. I have heard a story from someone that did accidentally cut a cable, and Malmstrom AFB was able to locate the break and respond rapidly. I am a volunteer firefighter, and our station has a VHS tape and a paper guide titled "Incident Guide for Missile Field Fire Response" provided to us by the DoD regarding our role in responding to fiře incidents near or at a silo. A year or so ago, we did respond to a fire near a silo, but it occurred entirely outside the security fencing. My understanding is that the personnel at the silos also have their own ability to respond to fires.

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The tape is probably a reponse to some infamous disasters/tragedies:

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGM-25C_Titan_II#Mishaps

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1965_Searcy_missile_silo_fire

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980_Damascus_Titan_missile_ex...

But isn't it the case that there is typically no personnel at the silo (or Launch Facility LF) itself? Instead, the Missile wing Commanders at the Launch Control Centers (LCC) some distance away. The LCC commands some number of LFs remotely.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missile_launch_control_center

Good question. They definitely do have launch control centers. All available information online does seem to indicate that is the case that the silos themselves are unmanned. My understanding is that there was some security on site, but that is just based on second hand stories I've heard, and may not be true.

I do see military vehicles traveling to and from the one that I am close to semi regularly, perhaps a month or so on average.

As far as fire response, they likely have their equipment for that at the control centers as well.

Given we are talking about nuclear missiles, I’d like to think that while unmanned and housing decades-old tech, that the sites themselves have state of the art top secret levels of security. Then again I grew up in northern VA and we all used to assume as kids that the pentagon had missiles to protect from attack, then 9/11 happens, things like Jan 6, and you lose that confidence..

> Anytime I want to dig on my property, I have to make sure it won't interfere with their pressurized cables.

Sounds like a serious weak point

The missile silos and control facilities are connected in a sort of semi-mesh topology, so any one cable break is unlikely to cause a communications failure. There are backup launch control interfaces available via airborne platforms (specifically the E-6 today) as well.

Digging into one of the cables is going to get you a prompt and unpleasant visit from base security.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41019604

https://computer.rip/2024-07-20-minuteman-missile-communicat...

They have redundancy. But they obviously want to know where it happened in case it was sabotage.

Image showing the layout/redundancy of the communications:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGM-30_Minuteman#/media/File...

There are alternate ways to launch the missiles (e.g. radio from a plane) in the event of an attack.

How different is it than a standard 811 utility-locate call?

Actual change in procedure? Or just extra cheek-clinching?

Today it is the same thing (part of an 811 call). In the distant past, it was a separate call.

Around 2000 land owners are affected, and anecdoctally it seems to add a few days to a 811 response (~a week instead of 2-3 days).

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