The picture above is stunning in a scary way — it shows the Multiple Independent Reentry Vehicle (MIRV) for a LGM-118A Peacekeeper Missile. The Peacekeeper is a land-based ICBM with 10 individual warheads, each possessing 20 times the destructive power of the Hiroshima bomb. Each MIRV bus carried a payload of 300 Kilotons, equivalent to 300,000 tons of TNT. Thankfully the missiles were never deployed for combat, though they were tested extensively. The picture you see above is from a specific test; the LGM-118A was launched in California, flew to the edge of space, and re-entered the atmosphere 4800 nautical miles into the Pacific, over the Kwajalein Atoll. Notice how the paths of each warhead can be traced back to the bus; all the lines intersect at a single point.

The picture you see below is of the individual warheads vehicles being secured to the bus. They’re really not that big.

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