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# Fact brief: Are any nuclear missiles stored in South Dakota?
- URL: https://www.sdnewswatch.org/fact-brief-sd-nuclear-missile-locations-united-states/
- Published: 2026-03-10T10:00:07.000Z
- Updated: 2026-03-10T10:00:07.000Z
- Description: South Dakota had 15 launch control facilities and 150 missile silos after 1963. Do any remain?
- Author: Michael Klinski
- Tags: Fact briefs, #feature-3

## No.

The United States has thousands of nuclear missiles spread out across the country, but there haven’t been any in South Dakota since the early 1990s.

There were 15 launch control facilities for 150 Minuteman missile silos in western South Dakota in the region of Ellsworth Air Force Base starting in 1963.

[South Dakota News Watch Quiz - Gigafact![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/cb/ab/cbabab5e-2dc6-462c-94a0-b72956c0d224/content/images/icon/cropped-favicon-270x270-1.png)Gigafact![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/cb/ab/cbabab5e-2dc6-462c-94a0-b72956c0d224/content/images/thumbnail/quiz-og-image-1.png)](https://gigafact.org/quiz/south-dakota-news-watch/fact-brief-quiz-8765/?ref=sdnewswatch.org)

Amid Cold War arms-reduction efforts and the START I treaty with Russia, the United States had those nuclear weapons removed and the launch control facilities destroyed rather than upgrade the Minuteman missiles. A launch control center and a silo remain at the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site near Phillip.

The United States reported its nuclear stockpile was at 3,748 warheads as of September 2023.

Today, 400 Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles remain deployed near air bases in North Dakota, Wyoming and Montana, with missile fields extending into parts of Colorado and Nebraska.

*This fact brief responds to conversations such as* [*this one.*](https://www.facebook.com/reel/1587604879154808)

### **Sources**

National Park Service, [Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty of 1991](https://www.nps.gov/articles/start-treaty-1991.htm?ref=sdnewswatch.org#:~:text=The%20treaty%20directly%20led%20to:%20%2A%20The,of%20along%20with%20other%20high%2Dlevel%20radioactive%20waste.)

National Park Service, [Minuteman Missile](https://www.nps.gov/mimi/what-is-so-special-about-this-place.htm?ref=sdnewswatch.org)

National Nuclear Security Administration, [Transparency in the U.S. Nuclear Weapons Stockpile](https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2024-08/U.S.%20Nuclear%20Weapons%20Stockpile%20Transparency%207%5F22%5F24.pdf?ref=sdnewswatch.org)

Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, [United States nuclear weapons, 2021](https://thebulletin.org/premium/2021-01/nuclear-notebook-united-states-nuclear-weapons-2021/?ref=sdnewswatch.org#:~:text=The%20nuclear%20weapons%20are%20thought,south%20of%20Albuquerque%2C%20New%20Mexico.)

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*This story was produced by *South Dakota News Watch*, an independent, nonprofit organization. Read more stories and donate at* [*sdnewswatch.org*](http://sdnewswatch.org/?ref=sdnewswatch.org) *and* [*sign up for an email*](https://www.sdnewswatch.org/email/) *to get stories when they're published. *Contact Michael Klinski* at michael.klinski@sdnewswatch.org.*