2026年5月4日 美国东部时间晚上7:05 / 哥伦比亚广播公司新闻
撰稿
伊恩·李
怀俄明州夏延 — 搭乘美国空军新型“灰狼”直升机飞越怀俄明州草原，美国战略司令部与空军全球打击司令部的指挥官们正带我们前往一处曾安保等级极高、入侵者可当场射杀的地点——“民兵III”型洲际弹道导弹（ICBM）发射井。
美国境内从科罗拉多州向北延伸至加拿大边境的区域，散布着数百座此类现役核发射井。
“随时约有400枚（洲际弹道导弹）处于待发射状态，”空军全球打击司令部司令S·L·戴维斯将军通过“灰狼”直升机的通讯系统说道。
哥伦比亚广播公司新闻随戴维斯与美国战略司令部司令里奇·科雷尔海军上将一同探访，独家直击美国陆基核威慑力量从“民兵III”型到新型“哨兵”型的现代化升级进程。两位指挥官正牵头这项工作，此次在怀俄明州是为视察夏延市F·E·沃伦空军基地的升级进展。
（左至右）伊恩·李与美国战略司令部、空军全球打击司令部指挥官S·L·戴维斯将军及里奇·科雷尔海军上将同乘“灰狼”直升机。哥伦比亚广播公司新闻 摄
我们在靠近科罗拉多州边境的“回声10号”发射井降落。随着空军转向列装“哨兵”导弹，这是第一座即将停用的发射井。即便作为待拆除的退役发射井，其安保依旧严密。一支受过敌方夺回核发射井训练的空军快速响应小队已在现场待命。
在入口处迎接我们的是F·E·沃伦空军基地第90导弹联队联队长特伦斯·J·霍姆斯上校，该联队下辖150枚“民兵III”型洲际弹道导弹。
“责任十分重大，”谈及指挥如此多核弹头的职责时他说道，“但我可以告诉大家，我们的防御者、操作人员以及支撑第90导弹联队任务的后勤人员，每天24小时随时待命。”
“哨兵”导弹的升级计划比原定进度落后了约十年。但随着“民兵III”型导弹陆续退役，霍姆斯坚称，即便总统下令，他的部队仍能随时投入行动。
“我专注于每日维护国家核安全与威慑力量，这项任务在向‘哨兵’导弹过渡期间不会、也永远不会停止，”他说道。
我们顺着梯子穿过圆形竖井，穿过数英尺厚的混凝土层，进入一个本可摧毁整个世界的空间。设备处处体现着“民兵III”型导弹的老旧。
伊恩·李探访退役的“民兵III”型核导弹发射井。哥伦比亚广播公司新闻 摄
“该系统最初设计使用寿命仅为十年，”科雷尔说道，“但我们从1961年就开始使用它了。所以它早已超出设计寿命。”
发射井周围的墙壁上布满了60年前的老旧设备，中央的竖井高达数层楼，原本曾容纳一枚60英尺长的核导弹。
“如今处于战备状态的‘民兵III’型导弹，与我35年前以中尉身份接手指挥时的是同一款。支撑‘民兵III’型导弹的发射设施，甚至比我出生的时间还要早，”戴维斯说道。
【资料图：“民兵III”型导弹发动机】美联社照片/道格拉斯·C·皮扎克
回到F·E·沃伦空军基地，指挥官们带我们参观了将组装新导弹和核弹头的场地。新建筑与基地内那些建于骑兵冲锋仍主宰战场时代的红砖大楼形成鲜明对比。
“‘哨兵’导弹体型更大、速度更快，射程更远，搭载载荷能力也更强，”戴维斯说道，“它更安全、更可靠，安保等级也更高。”
“哨兵”项目目前预算超支80%，美国纳税人需为此承担约1410亿美元成本。美国空军正在建造超过450座新型发射井、50至75座发射指挥中心及其他配套设施以支持该项目。
指挥官们坚称，一旦“哨兵”导弹投入运行，运营成本将低于“民兵III”型，因为其所需维护更少。新型“灰狼”直升机也将为全国所有发射井提供更出色的安保、抵达效率与响应时间。
批评人士可能会认为，为一款从未投入实战的武器系统投入如此多资金毫无必要，但科雷尔并不认同。
“我们每天都在使用它。威慑时刻都在发挥作用，”他说道，“对手没有对我们发动伤害的行动，本身就是这套系统日复一日运作的证明。”
美国的对手也在升级本国的核武器项目，包括中国、俄罗斯和朝鲜。美国国防部也在对国家核三位一体力量的其他组成部分进行升级：用B-21轰炸机取代B-2隐形轰炸机，用哥伦比亚级核潜艇取代俄亥俄级核动力弹道导弹潜艇。
“我们国家的核威慑力量安全、可靠、可信，”科雷尔说道，“美国将因此更加安全。”
America’s aging Minuteman III nuclear missiles are getting replaced. We got an inside look.
2026-05-04 7:05 PM EDT / CBS News
By
Ian Lee
Cheyenne, Wyoming — Flying in over the Wyoming prairie aboard the Air Force’s new Grey Wolf helicopter, the commanders of U.S. Strategic Command and Air Force Global Strike Command are taking us to a place that was once so highly secure that trespassers could be shot on sight — a Minuteman III Intercontinental Ballistic Missile, or ICBM, silo.
Hundreds of these active nuclear silos dot the landscape from Colorado up to the Canadian border.
“There are always approximately 400 (ICBMs) ready to go at any moment,” says Air Force Global Strike Command General S. L. Davis over the Grey Wolf’s comms system.
CBS News traveled with 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 from the Minuteman III to the new Sentinel. They are leading the effort and are in Wyoming to inspect the progress at F. E. Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne.
L-R: Ian Lee aboard a Grey Wolf helicopter with the commanders of U.S. Strategic Command, Air Force Global Strike Command,General S.L. Davis and Admiral Rich Correll. CBS News
We land at Echo 10 near the border with Colorado. It’s the first silo to go offline as the Air Force shifts to Sentinel. But even for being a decommissioned silo, security is tight. An Air Force rapid response team, trained to retake nuclear silos from a hostile force, is already on the ground.
Greeting us at the entrance is Colonel Terrance J. Holmes, the Wing Commander of the 90th Missile Wing at F. E. Warren, home to 150 Minuteman III ICBMs.
“It is a heavy weight,” he says about 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 upgrade to Sentinel is about a decade behind schedule. But as Minuteman IIIs go offline, Holmes insists his forces will still be able to act if the president calls upon them.
“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 says.
We climb down a ladder through a circular shaft, past feet of concrete, and into a world designed to destroy worlds. The equipment reflects Minuteman III’s age.
Ian Lee descends into a decommissioned Minuteman III nuclear missile silo. CBS News
“The system was originally designed for a decade,” says Correll. “We’ve been operating it since 1961. So, it’s well past its design life.”
Around the silo, 60-year-old technology lines the walls, with a shaft several stories high in the middle that once housed 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,” says Davis.
File photo: A Minuteman III missile engine. AP Photo/Douglas C. Pizac
Back at F. E. Warren, the commanders show where the missiles and warheads will be assembled. The new buildings contrast with the base’s red brick buildings constructed when calvary charges still dominated the battlefield.
“(Sentinel) is bigger, it’s faster. It has longer range and it can carry more payload,” says Davis. “It’s safer, it’s more secure and it’s more reliable.”
The Sentinel program is currently 80% over budget and is costing U.S. taxpayers roughly $141 billion. The Air Force is constructing over 450 new launch silos and between 50 to 75 launch centers and other facilities to support the program.
The commanders insist once it’s up and running, it’ll be cheaper to operate than the Minuteman III because it’ll require less maintenance. The new Grey Wolf helicopter will also provide better security, reach and reaction time to any silo around the country.
Critics may argue that this is all unnecessary spending for a weapons system that is never used, but Correll disagrees.
“We use it every single day. Deterrence is active,” he says. “The absence of action on the part of the adversary to do us harm is employment of that system day after day.”
America’s adversaries are also upgrading their nuclear weapons programs, including China, Russia and North Korea. The Pentagon is upgrading other parts of the country’s nuclear triad by replacing the B-2 Stealth bomber with the B-21, and Ohio Class nuclear-powered ballistic submarines with the Columbia Class.
“Our nation’s nuclear deterrent is safe, secure, reliable and credible,” Correll says. “America will be safer.”
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