Amid nuclear war threats from North Korea, the Air Force on Wednesday launched an unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile from Vandenberg Air Force Base near Santa Barbara.
The missile was launched before dawn and traveled 4,200 miles to hit a target zone at Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands.
The U.S. maintains a force of 450 Minuteman III missiles in underground silos in Montana, North Dakota and Wyoming. Each carries a single thermonuclear warhead with an explosive force equal to over 300,000 tons of conventional explosive.
The missiles in the inventory are routinely tested with launches form Vandenberg to assure their reliability.
The missile launched on Wednesday was from F.E. Warren Air Force near Cheyenne, WY. The launch command came from a Navy E-6 Mercury jet, a special flying command post.
“Our airmen demonstrated this with true professionalism and proved that the Minuteman III remains the nation’s premier deterrence and assurance capability,” said Lt. Col. Tony Rhoades, commander of the 341st Missile Wing Task Force, after the missile’s flight.
