Nike Missile Site MS-90 IFC, Isanti Minnesota
Longitude: -93.3364492568601
This location was part of the Twin Cities Defense Area
Site ID: MS-90
This site controlled the missiles at the Launch Area located here.
Site Role: IFC
A typical Nike air defense site consisted of two separate parcels of land. One area was known as the Integrated Fire Control (IFC) Area. This site contained the Nike system's ground-based radar and computer systems designed to detect and track hostile aircraft, and to guide the missiles to their targets.
The second parcel of land was known as the Launcher Area. At the launcher area, Nike missiles were stored horizontally within heavily constructed underground missile magazines. A large, missile elevator brought the Nikes to the surface of the site where they would be pushed across twin steel rails to one of four satellite launchers.
Elaboration on how Nike worked here.
Missile Type: Ajax/Hercules
The Nike Ajax was the first in the Army's family of guided missiles, and the world's first operational, guided, surface-to-air missile system. Nike Ajax had a burnout speed of Mach 2.3, a range of 25-30 miles, and a ceiling of 65,000 feet.
Designed to carry either nuclear and/or high-explosive warheads, the Nike Hercules missile could attack supersonic aircraft operating at altitudes in excess of 150,000 feet and at a range of more than 87 miles.
Battery Type: single
Date Site Converted to Hercules Missile: October, 1959
Nike Hercules were more powerful and nuclear capable missiles. Many locations originally built for the Ajax were later modified and upgraded to the newer Hercules.
Current site status: demolished
MS-90 (Bethel/Isanti) was one of four Nike Hercules batteries that guarded the Twin Cities from 1959 until 1971, positioned to the north of the city, along with MS-20 (Roberts, WI), MS-40 (Farmington), and MS-70 (Bonifacius). The Chicago District of the Corps of Engineers oversaw construction, with the four batteries manned by Regular Army units and the BIRDIE command and control facility located at Snelling Air Force Station.
The Nike launch site on 261st Avenue in Isanti County remained in service for just over a decade, from 1959 to 1970, until the Nikes were made obsolete by advances in both American and Russian weapons programs. The site was only 10 acres and was subsequently repurposed.
The missile launch site for MS-90 was located about a mile to the northwest of the Integrated Fire Control Center. The base closed in 1971. After closing, the Integrated Fire Control complex was transferred to Isanti County, which used it to house a juvenile offender boys ranch operated by the Isanti County Sheriff's Department.
The "90" designation places MS-90 at roughly 324 degrees from north (northwest) of the Twin Cities center point, consistent with its location north-northeast of Minneapolis, toward Isanti County.
List of all Nike Installations in the Twin Cities Defense AreaList of all Nike Installations in Minnesota
