13 California Sites Chosen for Study as Possible Missile Bases

The Pentagon has disclosed that it has selected 46 sites--13 in California--for further scrutiny as possible bases for the new Midgetman ballistic missile.

The potential sites, culled from a list of more than 4,200 locations, are on existing military bases operated by the Defense Department or on government reservations operated by the Energy Department.

“While decisions on how or where to base the first missiles will not be made until late 1986, after completion of technical, operational and environmental studies, it is essential to begin those studies now in order to comply” with congressional directives, the Pentagon said in releasing the list.

Sites in Other States

Nine of the potential sites are in Arizona; five in New Mexico; six in Nevada; two in Texas; six in Utah; two in Washington; one in Wyoming and two in Florida.

The Midgetman is the nickname for what the Pentagon calls the Small Intercontinental Ballistic Missile, or SICBM. Congress has already approved the start of development work on the missile, which was recommended by President Reagan’s Scowcroft Commission in 1983 as a key means of modernizing the United States’ land-based ballistic missile force.

Unlike the giant MX missile--the country’s newest intercontinental missile, which can carry 10 nuclear warheads--the Midgetman would be a small, single-warhead missile that could be transported and fired from large, truck-like vehicles.

Congress has supported the project to date because of that mobility, which would make it difficult for the missiles to be targeted by the Soviet Union for a first-strike attack. To date, however, no final decision has been made on whether the missiles will be carried on mobile launchers or placed in new, specially hardened silos.

If current plans remain in place, the first Midgetman will be flight-tested in 1988 and the first operational missile put in place in 1992. Studies of the 46 possible basing sites will likely take at least until next summer, Lehner said.

Here is a list of the California sites identified by the Pentagon on Friday:

- Barstow Marine Corps Logistics Base, Marines.

- Camp Roberts (National Guard), Army.

- China Lake Naval Weapons Center, Navy.

- Chocolate Mountain Air-Ground Range, Navy.

- Edwards Air Force Base, Air Force.

- El Centro Complex, Navy.

- El Centro Naval Air Facility, Navy.

- Ft. Irwin, Army.

- George Air Force Base, Air Force.

- Lemoore Naval Air Station, Navy.

- March Air Force Base, Air Force.

- Twentynine Palms Marine Corps Base, Marines.

- Sierra Army Depot, Army.