The U.S. Air Force conducted a routine launch of an unarmed intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that is capable of carrying a nuclear warhead on Wednesday morning, the military said.
The LGM-30G Minuteman III missile was launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 12:01 a.m. Pacific Time, the Air Force said.
The unarmed missile, equipped with a single Mark-21 High Fidelity Re-Entry Vehicle, traveled 15,000 mph to a test range near the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands, located about 4,200 miles from the launch site, the military said.
“This ICBM test launch underscores the strength of the nation’s nuclear deterrent and the readiness of the ICBM leg of the triad,” Gen. Thomas Bussiere, commander of Air Force Global Strike Command, said in a statement.
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The “triad” refers to the three different types of nuclear weapons delivery systems that the U.S. military can use to launch nuclear attacks. The systems are land-based ICBMs, submarine-launched ballistic missiles and nuclear-capable strategic bombers.
The Air Force said the test was routine and “not a response to current world events,” adding that more than 300 similar tests have been conducted in the past.
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“This test launch is part of routine and periodic activities designed to demonstrate that the United States’ nuclear deterrent remains safe, secure, reliable and effective in deterring 21st-century threats and reassuring our allies,” the Air Force said.
The Minuteman weapon system is a program that first became operational in the early 1970s, and has received enhancements over the course of nearly 60 years, the military said.
The Air Force now plans to replace the aging Minuteman with the modernized Sentinel system.
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