Project Iceworm

[Razor]

Project Iceworm

Project Iceworm was the code name for a top-secret US Army program during the Cold War to build a network of mobile nuclear missile launch sites under the Greenland ice sheet. The ultimate objective of placing medium-range missiles under the ice – close enough to Moscow to strike targets within the Soviet Union – was kept secret from the Danish government. To study the feasibility of working under the ice, a highly publicized "cover" project, known as Camp Century, was launched in 1960. However, unsteady ice conditions within the ice sheet caused the project to be canceled in 1966.

To test the feasibility of construction techniques a project site called "Camp Century" was started, located at an elevation of 6,600 feet (2,000 m) in northwestern Greenland, 150 miles (240 km) from the US Thule Air Base. The American radar and air base at Thule had been in active use since 1951.

Camp Century was described at the time as a demonstration of affordable ice-cap military outposts. The secret Project Iceworm was to be a system of tunnels 4,000 kilometres (2,500 mi) in length, used to deploy up to 600 nuclear missiles, that would be able to reach the USSR in case of nuclear war. The missile locations would be under the cover of Greenland's ice sheet and were supposed to be periodically changed. While Project Iceworm was secret, plans for Camp Century were discussed with and approved by Denmark, and the facility – including its nuclear power plant – was profiled in the Saturday Evening Post magazine in 1960.

The "official purpose" of Camp Century, as explained by the US Department of Defense to Danish government officials in 1960, was to test various construction techniques under Arctic conditions, explore practical problems with a semi-mobile nuclear reactor, as well as supporting scientific experiments on the icecap. A total of 21 trenches were cut and covered with arched roofs within which prefabricated building were erected. With a total length of 3,000 metres (1.9 mi), these tunnels also contained a hospital, a shop, a theater and a church. The total number of inhabitants was around 200. From 1960 until 1963 the electricity supply was provided by means of the world's first mobile/portable nuclear reactor, designated the PM-2A and designed by Alco for the US Army.[citation needed] Water was supplied by melting glaciers and tested to determine whether germs such as the plague were present.

Within three years after it was excavated, ice core samples taken by geologists working at Camp Century demonstrated that the glacier was moving much faster than anticipated and would destroy the tunnels and planned launch stations in about two years. The facility was evacuated in 1965, and the nuclear generator removed. Project Iceworm was canceled, and Camp Century closed in 1966.

Source: Project Iceworm - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Also related: 1968 Thule Air Base B-52 crash - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Razor]

Note that Camp Century and Camp Fistclench were covers for Project Iceworm (whose purpose was to place nukes in Greenland that would reach the USSR.)

Here is a propaganda/infotainment type video from the US Army about Camp Century:

The U.S. Army's Top Secret Arctic City Under the Ice! "Camp Century" Restored Classified Film - YouTube

 

[W.G.Ewald]

Ice Station Zebra (1968) - IMDb

 

[Kyubi]

I had something similar in mind, to have missile defence system placed underwater on a platform constructed on the ocean floor.. several long range ICBM's directed towards Karachi and northern parts of pakistan. The underwater missiles silos can be positioned somewhere around 200 to 250 km from Naliya , Gujarat or even further away say 500km perhaps in the arabian sea, if anyone can understand how to bathymetry data then the ocean floor topography can be mapped. Accordingly an underground structure can be constructed that will house water tight missile silos.

 

[W.G.Ewald]

I had something similar in mind, to have missile defence system placed underwater on a platform constructed on the ocean floor.. several long range ICBM's directed towards Karachi and northern parts of pakistan. The underwater missiles silos can be positioned somewhere around 200 to 250 km from Naliya , Gujarat or even further away say 500km perhaps in the arabian sea, if anyone can understand how to bathymetry data then the ocean floor topography can be mapped. Accordingly an underground structure can be constructed that will house water tight missile silos.

That's an excellent idea. You could even have the silos made so that they are mobile.

Oh, wait.

 

[Kyubi]

That's an excellent idea. You could even have the silos made so that they are mobile.

Oh, wait.

Well thanks for reminding me.. :fp: