Intercontinental ballistic missile An Intercontinental Ballistic Missile ( ICBM ) is a ballistic missile with a maximum range of more than typically designed for nuclear weapons delivery ( delivering one or more nuclear warheads ) . Most modern designs support multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle s ( MIRVs ) , allowing a single missile to carry several warheads , each of which can strike a different target . Early ICBMs had limited accuracy and that allowed them to be used only against the largest targets such as cities . They were seen as a " safe " basing option , one that would keep the deterrent force close to home where it would be difficult to attack . Attacks against military targets , if desired , still demanded the use of a manned bomber . Second and third generation designs dramatically improved accuracy to the point where even the smallest point targets can be successfully attacked . Similar evolution in size has allowed similar missiles to be placed on submarine s , where they are known as submarine - launched ballistic missile s , or SLBMs . Submarines are an even safer basing option than land - based missiles , able to move about the ocean at will . This evolution in capability has pushed the manned bomber from the front - line deterrent forces , and land - based ICBMs have similarly given way largely to SLBMs . ICBMs are differentiated by having greater range and speed than other ballistic missiles : intermediate - range ballistic missile s ( IRBMs ) , medium - range ballistic missile s ( MRBMs ) , short - range ballistic missile s ( SRBMs ) — these shorter range ballistic missiles are known collectively as theatre ballistic missile s . There is no single , standardized definition of what ranges would be categorized as intercontinental , intermediate , medium , or short . History . World War II . The development of the world ' s first practical design for an ICBM , A9 / 10 , intended for use in bombing New York and other American cities , was undertaken in Nazi Germany by the team of Wernher von Braun under " Projekt Amerika " . The ICBM A9 / A10 rocket initially was intended to be guided by radio , but was changed to be a piloted craft after the failure of Operation Elster . The second stage of the A9 / A10 rocket was tested a few times in January and February 1945 . The progenitor of the A9 / A10 was the German V - 2 rocket , also designed by von Braun and widely used at the end of World War II to bomb British and Belgian cities . All of these rockets used liquid propellants . Following the war , von Braun and other leading German scientists were relocated to the United States to work directly for the U . S . Army through Operation Paperclip , developing the IRBM s , ICBMs , and launchers . This technology was also predicted by US Army General Hap Arnold who wrote in 1943 : Cold War . In the immediate post - war era , the US and USSR both started rocket research programs based on the German wartime designs , especially the V - 2 . In the US , each branch of the military started its own programs , leading to considerable duplication of effort . In the USSR , rocket research was centrally organized , although several teams worked on different designs . Early designs from both countries were short - range missiles , like the V - 2 , but improvements quickly followed . In the USSR early development was focused on missiles able to attack European targets . This changed in 1953 when Sergei Korolyov was directed to start development of a true ICBM able to deliver newly developed hydrogen bombs . Given steady funding throughout , the R - 7 developed with some speed . The first launch took place on 15 May 1957 and led to an unintended crash from the site . The first successful test followed on 21 August 1957 ; the R - 7 flew over and became the world ' s first ICBM . The first strategic - missile unit became operational on 9 February 1959 at Plesetsk in north - west Russia . It was the same R - 7 launch vehicle that placed the first artificial satellite in space , Sputnik , on 4 October 1957 . The first human spaceflight in history was accomplished on a derivative of R - 7 , Vostok , on 12 April 1961 , by Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin . A deeply modernized version of the R - 7 is still used as the launch vehicle for the Soviet / Russian Soyuz spacecraft , marking more than 50 years of operational history of the original Sergei Korolyov ' s rocket design . The U . S . initiated ICBM research in 1946 with the MX - 774 project . This was a three - stage effort with the ICBM development not starting until the third stage . However , funding was cut after only three partially successful launches in 1948 of the second stage design , used to test variations on the V - 2 design . With overwhelming air superiority and truly intercontinental bombers , the newly forming US Air Force did not take the problem of ICBM development seriously . Things changed in 1953 with the Soviet testing of their first hydrogen bomb , but it was not until 1954 that the Atlas missile program was given the highest national priority . The Atlas A first flew on 11 June 1957 ; the flight lasted only about 24 seconds before the rocket blew up . The first successful flight of an Atlas missile to full range occurred 28 November 1958 . The first armed version of the Atlas , the Atlas D , was declared operational in January 1959 at Vandenberg , although it had not yet flown . The first test flight was carried out on 9 July 1959 , and the missile was accepted for service on 1 September . The R - 7 and Atlas each required a large launch facility , making them vulnerable to attack , and could not be kept in a ready state . Failure rates were very high throughout the early years of ICBM technology . Human spaceflight programs ( Vostok , Mercury , Voskhood , Gemini , etc . ) served as a highly visible means of demonstrating confidence in reliability , with successes translating directly to national defense implications . The US was well behind the Soviet Union in the Space Race , so U . S . President John F . Kennedy increased the stakes with the Apollo Program , which used Saturn rocket technology that had been funded by President Dwight D . Eisenhower . These early ICBMs also formed the basis of many space launch systems . Examples include R - 7 , Atlas , Redstone , Titan , and Proton , which was derived from the earlier ICBMs but never deployed as an ICBM . The Eisenhower administration supported the development of solid - fueled missiles such as the LGM - 30 Minuteman , Polaris and Skybolt . Modern ICBMs tend to be smaller than their ancestors , due to increased accuracy and smaller and lighter warheads , and use solid fuels , making them less useful as orbital launch vehicles . The Western view of the deployment of these systems was governed by the strategic theory of Mutual Assured Destruction . In the 1950s and 1960s , development began on Anti - Ballistic Missile systems by both the U . S . and USSR ; these systems were restricted by the 1972 ABM treaty . The first successful ABM test were conducted by the USSR in 1961 , that later deployed a fully operating system defending Moscow in the 1970s ( see Moscow ABM system ) . The 1972 SALT treaty froze the number of ICBM launchers of both the USA and the USSR at existing levels , and allowed new submarine - based SLBM launchers only if an equal number of land - based ICBM launchers were dismantled . Subsequent talks , called SALT II , were held from 1972 to 1979 and actually reduced the number of nuclear warheads held by the USA and USSR . SALT II was never ratified by the United States Senate , but its terms were nevertheless honored by both sides until 1986 , when the Reagan administration " withdrew " after accusing the USSR of violating the pact . In the 1980s , President Ronald Reagan launched the Strategic Defense Initiative as well as the MX and Minuteman ICBM programs . China developed a minimal independent nuclear deterrent entering its own cold war after an ideological split with the Soviet Union beginning in the early 1960s . After first testing a domestic built nuclear weapon in 1964 , it went on to develop various warheads and missiles . Beginning in the early 1970s , the liquid fuelled DF - 5 ICBM was developed and used as a satellite launch vehicle in 1975 . The DF - 5 , with range of long enough to strike the western US and the USSR , was silo deployed with the first pair in service by 1981 with possibly twenty missiles in service by the late 1990s . China also deployed the JL - 1 Medium - range ballistic missile with a reach of aboard the ultimately unsuccessful type 92 submarine . Post – Cold War . In 1991 , the United States and the Soviet Union agreed in the START I treaty to reduce their deployed ICBMs and attributed warheads . , all five of the nations with permanent seats on the United Nations Security Council have operational long - range ballistic missile systems : all except China have operational submarine - launched missiles , and Russia , the United States and China also have land - based ICBMs ( the US ' missiles are silo - based , China and Russia have both silo and road - mobile missiles ) . Israel is believed to have deployed a road mobile nuclear ICBM , the Jericho III , which entered service in 2008 ; an upgraded version is in development . India successfully test fired Agni V , with a strike range of more than on 19 April 2012 , claiming entry into the ICBM club . It is speculated by some intelligence agencies that North Korea is developing an ICBM . North Korea successfully put a satellite into space on 12 December 2012 using the Unha - 3 rocket . The United States claimed that the launch was in fact a way to test an ICBM . ( See Timeline of first orbital launches by country ) Most countries in the early stages of developing ICBMs have used liquid propellants , with the known exceptions being the Indian Agni - V , the planned South African RSA - 4 ICBM and the now in service Israeli Jericho 3 . Flight phases . The following flight phases can be distinguished : Modern ICBMs . Modern ICBMs typically carry multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle s ( " MIRVs " ) , each of which carries a separate nuclear warhead , allowing a single missile to hit multiple targets . MIRV was an outgrowth of the rapidly shrinking size and weight of modern warheads and the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaties which imposed limitations on the number of launch vehicles ( SALT I and SALT II ) . It has also proved to be an " easy answer " to proposed deployments of ABM systems — it is far less expensive to add more warheads to an existing missile system than to build an ABM system capable of shooting down the additional warheads ; hence , most ABM system proposals have been judged to be impractical . The first operational ABM systems were deployed in the U . S . during 1970s . Safeguard ABM facility was located in North Dakota and was operational from 1975 to 1976 . The USSR deployed its Galosh ABM system around Moscow in the 1970s , which remains in service . Israel deployed a national ABM system based on the Arrow missile in 1998 , but it is mainly designed to intercept shorter - ranged theater ballistic missiles , not ICBMs . The US Alaska - based National missile defense system attained initial operational capability in 2004 . ICBMs can be deployed from multiple platforms : The last three kinds are mobile and therefore hard to find . During storage , one of the most important features of the missile is its serviceability . One of the key features of the first computer - controlled ICBM , the Minuteman missile , was that it could quickly and easily use its computer to test itself . In flight , a booster pushes the warhead and then falls away . Most modern boosters are solid - fueled rocket motors , which can be stored easily for long periods of time . Early missiles used liquid - fueled rocket motors . Many liquid - fueled ICBMs could not be kept fuelled all the time as the cryogenic liquid oxygen boiled off and caused ice formation , and therefore fueling the rocket was necessary before launch . This procedure was a source of significant operational delay , and might allow the missiles to be destroyed by enemy counterparts before they could be used . To resolve this problem the British invented the missile silo that protected the missile from a first strike and also hid fuelling operations underground . Once the booster falls away , the warhead continues on an unpowered ballistic trajectory , much like an artillery shell or cannonball . The warhead is encased in a cone - shaped reentry vehicle and is difficult to detect in this phase of flight as there is no rocket exhaust or other emissions to mark its position to defenders . The high speeds of the warheads make them difficult to intercept and allow for little warning striking targets many thousands of kilometers away from the launch site ( and due to the possible locations of the submarines : anywhere in the world ) within approximately 30 minutes . Many authorities say that missiles also release aluminized balloons , electronic noisemakers , and other items intended to confuse interception devices and radars ( see penetration aid ) . As the nuclear warhead reenters the Earth ' s atmosphere its high speed causes compression of the air , leading to a dramatic rise in temperature which would destroy it if it were not shielded in some way . As a result , warhead components are contained within an aluminium honeycomb substructure , sheathed in pyrolytic graphite - epoxy resin composite , with a heat - shield layer on top which is constructed out of 3 - Dimensional Quartz Phenolic . Accuracy is crucial , because doubling the accuracy decreases the needed warhead energy by a factor of four . Accuracy is limited by the accuracy of the navigation system and the available geophysical information . Strategic missile systems are thought to use custom integrated circuit s designed to calculate navigational differential equation s thousands to millions of times per second in order to reduce navigational errors caused by calculation alone . These circuits are usually a network of binary addition circuits that continually recalculate the missile ' s position . The inputs to the navigation circuit are set by a general purpose computer according to a navigational input schedule loaded into the missile before launch . One particular weapon developed by the Soviet Union ( FOBS ) had a partial orbit al trajectory , and unlike most ICBMs its target could not be deduced from its orbital flight path . It was decommissioned in compliance with arms control agreements , which address the maximum range of ICBMs and prohibit orbital or fractional - orbital weapons . Specific ICBMs . Land - based ICBMs . Russia , the United States , China and India are the only countries currently known to possess land - based ICBMs , Israel has also tested ICBMs but is not open about actual deployment . The United States currently operates 450 ICBMs in three USAF bases . The only model deployed is LGM - 30G Minuteman - III . All previous USAF Minuteman II missiles have been destroyed in accordance with START , and their launch silos have been sealed or sold to the public . To comply with the START II most U . S . multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles , or MIRV s , have been eliminated and replaced with single warhead missiles . The powerful MIRV - capable Peacekeeper missiles were phased out in 2005 . However , since the abandonment of the START II treaty , the U . S . is said to be considering retaining 800 warheads on an existing 450 missiles . The Russian Strategic Rocket Forces have 369 ICBM s able to deliver 1 , 247 nuclear warheads , 58 silo - based R - 36M2 ( SS - 18 ) , 70 silo - based UR - 100N ( SS - 19 ) , 171 mobile RT - 2PM " Topol " ( SS - 25 ) , 52 silo - based RT - 2UTTH " Topol M " ( SS - 27 ) , 18 mobile RT - 2UTTH " Topol M " ( SS - 27 ) , 6 ( 15 in December 2011 ) mobile RS - 24 " Yars " ( SS - 29 ) " ( Future replacement for R - 36 & UR - 100N missiles ) " China has developed several long range ICBMs , like the DF - 31 . The Dongfeng 5 or DF - 5 is a 3 stage liquid fuel ICBM and has an estimated range of 13 , 000 kilometers . The DF - 5 had its first flight in 1971 and was in operational service 10 years later . One of the downsides of the missile was that it took between 30 and 60 minutes to fuel . The Dong Feng 31 ( a . k . a . CSS - 10 ) is a medium - range , three - stage , solid - propellant intercontinental ballistic missile , and is a land - based variant of the submarine - launched JL - 2 . The DF - 41 or CSS - X - 10 can carry up to 10 nuclear warheads , which are maneuverable reentry vehicle s and has a range of approximately . Israel is believed to have deployed a road mobile nuclear ICBM , the Jericho III , which entered service in 2008 . It is possible for the missile to be equipped with a single nuclear warhead or up to three MIRV warheads . It is believed to be based on the Shavit space launch vehicle and is estimated to have a range of . In November 2011 Israel tested an ICBM believed to be an upgraded version of the Jericho III . India has a series of ballistic missiles called Agni , of which the latest is Agni - V . On 19 April 2012 , India successfully test fired its first Agni - V , a three stage solid fueled missile , with a strike range of more than . The missile was test - fired for the second time on 15 September 2013 . Submarine - launched . All current designs of submarine launched ballistic missiles have intercontinental range . Current operators of such missiles are the United States , Russia , United Kingdom , France and The Peoples Republic of China . India has developed the K - 15 Sagarika , and is working on the long range K - 4 missile , which is part of the K Missile family .