Missile, Surface-to-Surface, Pershing-II
name: label: Manufacturer
content: Martin Marietta Aerospace
notes: label: Summary
content: The Pershing II was a mobile, intermediate-range ballistic missile deployed by the U.S. Army at American bases in West Germany beginning in 1983. It was aimed at targets in the western Soviet Union. Each Pershing II carried a single, variable-yield thermonuclear warhead with an explosive force equivalent to 5-50 kilotons of TNT. Under the terms of the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty between the United States and the Soviet Union, all Pershing IIs and their support equipment were removed from the inventory and rendered inoperable. This missile is a trainer, but its dimensions and weight are identical to an operational Pershing II. It was built by Martin Marietta and transferred by the Army Missile Command to NASM in 1990.
label: Alternate Name
content: Pershing II
label: Key Accomplishment(s)
content: Stepping Back from Nuclear War
label: Impact or Innovation
content: The treaty that banned these ballistic missiles was a step back from nuclear war and a harbinger of the Cold War’s end.
label: Brief Description
content: The Soviet SS-20 and U.S. Pershing II are two of more than 2,600 nuclear missiles banned by the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, the first international agreement to eliminate an entire class of nuclear weapons.
place: label: Country of Origin
content: United States of America
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Air and Space Museum Collection
label: Location
content: National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC
label: Exhibition
content: Boeing Milestones of Flight Hall
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Transferred from the United States Army Missile Command.
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Air and Space Museum
identifier: label: Inventory Number
content: A19910037000
objectType: label: Type
content: CRAFT-Missiles & Rockets
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Materials
content: Metal
label: Dimensions
content: Other: 3 ft. 3 5/8 in. diameter x 34 ft. 9 5/8 in. tall (100.6 x 1060.7cm)