MX-197 Peacekeeper

The MX-197 Peacekeeper, originally known as the M3 for "Multi Magnitude Missile", is a MIRV-capable intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) produced and deployed by the Yuktobanian Air Force. The missile can carry up to 12 Mk.21 reentry vehicles, although treaty-limited to 10, each armed with a 300-kiloton NS-22 warhead. Initially, 700 M3 ICBMs were planned to be built and deployed, but budgetary concerns and the end of the cold war eliminated the final procurement and only 450 entered service.

Studies on the underlying concept started in the 1960s. The idea was to allow Yuktobania to absorb a sneak attack by the USSR with enough warheads surviving to attack the remaining Soviet missile fleet. To do so, the missiles had to be highly accurate, be based in such a way that enough would survive to launch a counterstrike, carry a large number of warheads so the survivors would still inflict massive damage, and be able to rapidly re-target so they could be aimed at only those missiles the Soviets had not yet fired. Ultimately the only problem that was never completely solved was the issue of basing, over its development through the 1970s, M3 emerged as a highly accurate, rapid-firing, and quickly retargeted system.

Initial development began in 1971, with full-scale development starting in 1974. Initial production in 1979 was announced, but this was overturned by the Yuktobanian congress. After considerable debate about the system, in October 1982, Secretary-General Tamon Schwerner announced that 450 of the newly named Peacekeepers would be put into service in existing MX-48 Alertwatch silos, a temporary measure until final basing was decided. The first flight test took place in 1983, which included the successful launch of six inert re-entry vehicles, each hitting pre-planned targets. It was the first Yuktobanian ICBM to use a cold launch system, reaching initial operational capability in 1986.