Minuteman III Missile to be Featured at North Dakota Heritage Center

Posted 4/01/26 (Wed)

Minuteman III missile to be featured at North Dakota Heritage Center

• Grant Coursey

U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., speaks at the North Dakota Heritage Center and State Museum in Bismarck.

The North Dakota Heritage Center and State Museum in Bismarck will exhibit a decommissioned Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile in its new Military Gallery, U.S. Sen. Kevin Cramer announced Tuesday.

The Military Gallery is under construction and scheduled to open in late 2027, according to North Dakota State Historical Society Director Bill Peterson.

The Minuteman III was first deployed in the 1960s and remains operational to this day, with roughly 400 based across the United States, including in the countryside around Minot Air Force Base in northwestern North Dakota, according to a Tuesday statement.

Minuteman III missiles are one part of the U.S. nuclear triad -- a system of land, air and sea-based weapons meant to discourage attacks by guaranteeing the U.S. could strike back.

Minot Air Force Base is the only base in the country to house two legs of the nuclear triad. It hosts both Minuteman III ICBMs and B-52 Stratofortress bombers, which can carry nuclear payloads.

Cramer, R-N.D., who serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said sourcing the missile was a difficult process, but he ultimately worked with the U.S. Air Force and defense contractor Northrop Grumman to secure a Minuteman III for display. The 60-foot-tall missile will belong to the National Museum of the United States Air Force and be on loan to the Heritage Center.

"The Minuteman III is now over 50 years old," Cramer said. "It demonstrates the might of this country like no other weapon before. It's not just a weapon, it's an attitude, and that's why the North Dakota Military Gallery is so important. It's been an honor to be part of the project."

Peterson said the State Historical Society has been trying for about two years to secure a Minuteman III.

The new Military Gallery will also feature a bridge erection boat used by the North Dakota National Guard to cross the Euphrates River in Iraq, a Bell UH-1 Iroquois helicopter -- known as a “Huey” -- based at Grand Forks Air Force Base in the 1990s, and an MQ-1 Predator drone operated in the Middle East by airmen from Fargo’s 119th Air Wing.

The Legislature approved about $19 million for the 70,000-square-foot Military Gallery addition, along with a $20 million line of credit from the state-owned Bank of North Dakota, to be matched by $39 million in private donations. A groundbreaking ceremony was held last July. The gallery is scheduled for completion in fall 2027.

The State Historical Society is partnering on the project with the North Dakota National Guard and their respective foundations. More information is at bit.ly/NDMilitaryGallery.

From left: North Dakota State Historical Society Foundation Executive Director Dale Lennon, U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer, State Historical Society Director Bill Peterson and Brig. Gen. Mitchell Johnson, the North Dakota National Guard's adjutant general, stand with a model of the Minuteman III ICBM that will be on display in the state's Military Gallery starting in late 2027.