U.S. Studies 4 Desert Bases as Nuclear Missile Sites

Four Southern California military bases remain in the running as a possible home complex for the proposed Midgetman missile system as the Department of Defense nears a recommendation on where to base the movable arsenal.

Edwards Air Force Base near Palmdale, Ft. Irwin near Barstow, the China Lake Naval Weapons Center and the Marine Corps Air-Ground Combat Center near Twentynine Palms were given mixed assessments in an environmental study made public this week.

But an Air Force official overseeing the site selection process at the Ballistics Missile Office at Norton Air Force Base here said other factors such as cost effectiveness and the impact on existing military missions are still being weighed.

Recommendation Due

The Pentagon is expected to deliver a recommendation to President Reagan next month on both the site and mode of launch for the Midgetman, which could be launched from either a fixed silo or a movable rig hauled by diesel truck--the so-called “hard mobile launcher in random movement.”

Any or all of the four Southland bases could become headquarters for the proposed small intercontinental ballistic missile system, possibly in conjunction with bases in other states.

Congress, which has given a largely favorable response to the mobile system, is expected to consider financing for the full-scale program next year. The Air Force is seeking 250 to 1,000 Midgetman missiles.

Original plans called for the Midgetman to be deployed by late 1992 as a 30,000-pound, single-warhead missile with mobile launching capability. In addition to the recent consideration of possible fixed hard-silo launch sites, there has been Defense Department talk of adding warheads and increasing the Midgetman’s weight to as much as 75,000 pounds.

If California is selected, it would be the first time that land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles would have been based in the state. There are submarines based in California ports and although some submarines carry nuclear missiles, Navy officials, as a matter of policy, refuse to discuss the subject.

The complex of four California bases is being judged against bases in Arizona, Nevada, Washington State, New Mexico and Florida for the “hard mobile launcher in random movement” system, a mobile system that would be designed to make it difficult for Soviet missiles to destroy a first strike.

Each of the 14-foot-by-100-foot, 200,000-pound mobile missile launch rigs would need about eight square miles of maneuvering room in order to confuse Soviet spy satellites, the environmental report said.

No Opposition Yet

Lt. Col. Peter Walsh, overseeing the site selection, said no organized opposition has materialized. “Naturally,” he said, “there are going to be people who would not like a nuclear system in their back yard or a nuclear system, period.”

In fact, said Maj. Barry S. Glickman, public affairs director of the Ballistic Missile Office, response thus far from communities has been favorable because of the jobs promised by the system. Cheyenne, Wyo., for example, recently endorsed an effort to seek the system. “We’ve had calls from chambers of commerce around the country wanting information so they can go out and talk things up,” Glickman said. None of those calls, he added, came from groups in California.

Walsh and Glickman said they expect opposition to form after a site is selected.

In addition to the “mobile launcher in random movement,” two other launch modes are under consideration. One would place the mobile launchers at existing Minuteman facilities--enabling them to be moved away quickly if Minutemen sites became targets--and another would place the Midgetman missiles in hardened silos.

Military bases in South Dakota, North Dakota, Wyoming, Texas and Montana are being studied as Midgetman sites if one of those launch modes is selected.

Combinations Considered

Edwards AFB is also being considered for the hardened silo launch system. Walsh said it is possible that a combination of sites and launching modes will be used.

He said the study must also consider, for example, whether the mobile launchers would impair tank and infantry training at the Twentynine Palms Marine base, the bombing range operation at China Lake or future space shuttle landings at Edwards.

If the Southern California bases are selected, the support facilities for maintenance, administration and launch control would be based at either Edwards or Ft. Irwin.

The environmental study suggested that the construction of the system would add more than 3,000 short-term construction jobs and 3,000 permanent jobs to the area selected. However, the report noted, “off-road hard mobile launcher operations are expected to result in long-term disturbance of soil, vegetation and wildlife habitat.”

Walsh said that the sites being considered include a wildlife refuge in Arizona, a wild horse range in Nevada and prehistoric American Indian habitation sites at Ft. Irwin.

Walsh said that efforts will be made to mitigate adverse impact wherever the system is based.