US Commanders Inspect Minuteman III Silo in Wyoming as Air Force Prepares Sentinel Upgrade

Cheyenne, Wyoming — Commanders of U.S. Strategic Command and Air Force Global Strike Command flew over the Wyoming prairie in the Air Force's new Grey Wolf helicopter to visit a Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile silo. The site was once so secure that trespassers could be shot on sight.

Hundreds of active nuclear silos stretch across the landscape from Colorado to the Canadian border.

"There are always approximately 400 ICBMs ready to go at any moment," Air Force Global Strike Command General S. L. Davis said over the Grey Wolf's communications system.

CBS News joined Davis and Admiral Rich Correll, commander of U.S. Strategic Command, for an exclusive look at the modernization of America's ground-based nuclear deterrent. The shift moves from the Minuteman III to the new Sentinel. The two leaders are directing the effort and visited F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne to check progress.

The group landed at Echo 10, near the Colorado border. It is the first silo to go offline in the transition to Sentinel. Security remains tight even for a decommissioned site. An Air Force rapid response team, trained to retake nuclear silos from hostile forces, was already in place.

Colonel Terrance J. Holmes, wing commander of the 90th Missile Wing at F.E. Warren, which houses 150 Minuteman III ICBMs, greeted the visitors at the entrance.

"It is a heavy weight," he said of commanding so many nuclear warheads. "But I can tell you that our defenders, our operators and the support personnel that drive the mission of the 90th Missile Wing, stand ready every single day, 24/7."

The Sentinel upgrade trails its schedule by about a decade. Holmes said his forces can still respond if the president orders it, even as Minuteman IIIs go offline.

"I am focused on maintaining day-to-day nuclear surety and deterrence for the nation, and that mission does not and will not ever stop even during the transition to the Sentinel," he said.

The group descended a ladder through a circular shaft, past feet of concrete, into the silo. The equipment shows the Minuteman III's age.

"The system was originally designed for a decade," Correll said. "We've been operating it since 1961. So, it's well past its design life."

Sixty-year-old technology lines the walls around a several-stories-high shaft that once held a 60-foot nuclear missile.

"The Minuteman III that's on alert today is the Minuteman III that I took command of as a lieutenant over 35 years ago. The launch facility that supports the Minuteman III was built before I was born," Davis said.

Back at F.E. Warren, the commanders pointed out where the new missiles and warheads will be assembled. The fresh buildings stand out against the base's red brick structures from the era of cavalry charges.

"Sentinel is bigger, it's faster. It has longer range and it can carry more payload," Davis said. "It's safer, it's more secure and it's more reliable."

The Sentinel program runs 80% over budget at roughly $141 billion. The Air Force plans more than 450 new launch silos, 50 to 75 launch centers and other facilities.

The commanders said Sentinel will cost less to operate than Minuteman III due to reduced maintenance needs. The Grey Wolf helicopter will improve security, reach and response time at silos nationwide.

Critics call the spending unnecessary for a weapon never fired, but Correll pushed back.

"We use it every single day. Deterrence is active," he said. "The absence of action on the part of the adversary to do us harm is employment of that system day after day."

China, Russia and North Korea are upgrading their nuclear arsenals. The Pentagon is modernizing other legs of the nuclear triad, swapping B-2 Stealth bombers for B-21s and Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines for Columbia-class boats.

"Our nation's nuclear deterrent is safe, secure, reliable and credible," Correll said. "America will be safer."