A Titan II missile launch at America's Vandenburg AFB.
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SS-24 missile silo at Strategic missile forces museum in Ukraine. Author: Michael.
Overview[]
A missile launch facility, also known as an underground missile silo, launch facility (LF), or nuclear silo, is a vertical cylindrical structure constructed underground, for the storage and launching of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), intermediate-range ballistic missiles (IRBMs), medium-range ballistic missiles (MRBMs). Similar facilities can be used for anti-ballistic missiles (ABMs).
The structures typically have the missile some distance below ground, protected by a large "blast door" on top of the silo. They are usually connected, physically and/or electronically, to a missile launch control centre inside a underground bunker.