The military successfully launched an unarmed intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in Southern California to test and demonstrate the US nuclear capabilities.
The Minuteman III missile lit up the late night sky after it was released at the Vandenberg Space Force Base, about 150 miles from Los Angeles, around 1am on Wednesday.
The “routine” test is to ensure that the US “will remain “safe, secure, reliable, effective in deterring the threat of the 21st century and reassuring allies.” It was implemented. The Global Strike Command said.
Dramatic footage of the launch shows the rocket exploded with a fierce explosion of fire and smoke, then stripes the sky until it disappears into darkness.
“The launch of the test is just one way the Air Force Department demonstrates preparation, accuracy and professionalism for the U.S. nuclear force,” Air Force executive director Gary Ashworth said in a statement.
“It also gives us confidence in the lethal and effectiveness of the country's nuclear deterrence mission,” he added.
The ICBM is equipped with a “single telemeter joint test assembly re-entry vehicle” that will deliver approximately 4,200 miles at a speed of over 15,000 mph at the Ronald Reagan Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site at Kwajaraine Atoll in the Marshall Islands. I've moved.
There, data from the last moment of flight is analyzed to assess the performance of the missile system.
According to standard procedures, the US notified the Russian government and other countries prior to the launch, the Air Force said.
The military shipped the “randomly selected” Minuteman III from an underground silo at FE Warren Military Base in Wyoming, and shipped to 1,300 miles of Van Denburg.
More than 300 similar tests have been conducted in the past, officials said.
Vandenburg's 377th Test and Evaluation Group is run at the base and oversees the latest release.
Colonel Dustin Harmon of 377th Teg Commander said the test will “enable the team to verify improvements to predictive missile systems while analyzing and reporting the accuracy and reliability of current systems.”
The Minuteman Weapon System, a key component of the US strategic defense system, was developed in the 1950s and first deployed in the 1960s. According to the USAF website.
The surface-based Minuteman III ranges from 6,000 miles.
Data from the test launches have been shared and studied by several agencies, including the Department of Defense, the Department of Energy, and the US Strategic Command.
