MX Missile Seriously Flawed

The most powerful nuclear weapons system in the world is suspected of having problems that could either prevent its missiles from being launched or send them careening wildly off target.

When the 50 MX "Peacekeeper" missiles were built and installed in silos near Warren Air Force Base, Wyo., they were hailed as a symbol of U.S. resolve during some of the darkest days of the Cold War.

But the missiles, which first became part of the nuclear balance of power in 1986, may be the nuclear Potemkin Village -- a fearsome threat on paper, but potentially worthless in an all-out nuclear exchange.