The U.S. Air Force‘s 91st Missile Wing unit at Minot AF Base in North Dakota has implemented a new data transfer unit for the LGM-30G Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile system.
DTU is built to replace the missile system’s outdated cartridge tape unit and launch facility load cartridge systems, the Air Force said Monday.
“The DTU loads the Missile Guidance Set, which is the brain of the Minuteman III, with sensitive cryptographic data and other information the missile needs in order to function,†said Capt. Kevin Drumm, ICBM codes operations chief for the 91st Operations Support Squadron.
Drumm added he expects the new unit to help increase the performance, reliability and security of ICBM operations.
The Air Force noted that a single DTU is 25 pounds lighter than Minuteman III’s previous CTU and works to store the same volume of data as 12 LFLC units.
