Plokstine Nuclear Missile Base

The Zemaitija forest north of Plunge, looks just as any peaceful forest in Lithuania. In 1960 however, the Soviet army realised that this forest, with a soil that was easy to excavate and a sparsely population in the surrounding areas, made it an ideal place for a secret nuclear missile base!

The underground system of silos, control rooms and radio stations were excavated by hand by thousands of Soviet soldiers. On December 31:st 1962, the missile complex was ready for action. Four R-12 missiles were installed in the silos, and each had a range of approx 2000 km, carrying a deadly warhead of some 1500 kg!

The nuclear missile base in Plokstine was unknown to the outer world until 1978.