The US military launched an unarmed but nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile from California over the Pacific Ocean on Tuesday.
The Minuteman III ICBM was launched at 11:01 PM PT from Space Force Base Vandenberg in California during an operational test. The US Space Force said the test showed that the country’s intercontinental ballistic missile fleet can leverage dominance in an era of strategic competition.
The White House defines strategic competition as the United States prioritizing maintaining a lasting competitive advantage over China while constraining “which remains very dangerous” Russia. These three countries are among the nine countries armed with nuclear weapons.
General Thomas A. said: Bossier, commander of the US Air Force’s Global Strike Command, said in a statement that the test showed what “airmen bring to the fight if the president asks them to.”
The Louisiana-based command, which controls and operates Minuteman 3, said the test was a “routine and periodic” activity intended to demonstrate that the country’s nuclear deterrent is “safe, secure, reliable and effective” to deter threats and reassure the United States. Allies.
This is the fourth nuclear missile test in the Pacific Ocean since September 25, when China launched a DF-31AG intercontinental ballistic missile into the South Pacific. On October 29, Russia said it had test-fired an RSM-56 Bulava ballistic missile (SLBM) over the Sea of Okhotsk.
Two days later, North Korea test-fired a new Hwasong-19 intercontinental ballistic missile into the East Sea, also known as the Sea of Japan. The missile, North Korea’s largest intercontinental ballistic missile to date, is estimated to be capable of flying more than 9,320 miles and striking the U.S. mainland.
An unarmed American Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile was launched during an operational test on November 5 at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The nuclear-capable missile is equipped with multiple targetable re-entry vehicles. An unarmed US Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile was launched during an operational test on November 5 at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The nuclear-capable missile is equipped with multiple targetable re-entry vehicles. Airman 1st Class Olga Hutsma/US Space Force
The US Air Forces Global Strike Command added: “Such tests have been conducted more than 300 times before, and this test is not a result of current world events.” She explained that the test was scheduled “years ago” and was the culmination of months of preparation.
After launching from California, the missile’s multiple re-entry vehicles, which are the payload needed to carry nuclear weapons in operational condition, traveled 4,200 miles west to a test site located within the Marshall Islands on Kwajalein Atoll in the central Pacific Ocean.
The Minuteman III missile, which has a range of more than 6,000 miles, is deployed with a single nuclear warhead. However, it can carry up to three multiple targetable vehicles, allowing each missile to strike different targets on the ground with multiple warheads.
There are currently 400 Minuteman III missiles deployed at F.E. Warren, Malmstrom and Minot Air Force Bases, with their hardened silos located in five states. It will be gradually replaced by the Sentinel, the next generation of US intercontinental ballistic missiles, as early as 2029.
Another feature of the test is the Airborne Launch Control System (ALCS), an alternative method of launching intercontinental ballistic missiles. It allows the US Navy’s E-6B Mercury aircraft to issue the launch command to missiles if command centers on the ground are unable to do so.
Minuteman III was experimentally launched with more than one reentry vehicle. The most recent such test occurred in September last year with three return vehicles. ALCS had been tested before as well, when the E-6B Mercury began launching in April of that year.
The US Army tests its fleet of intercontinental ballistic missiles about four times a year, but not all tests end successfully. On November 1, 2023, an anomaly occurred during a test launch from California, thus ending the Minuteman III’s unarmed mission over the Pacific Ocean.
