US conducts test flight of unarmed Minuteman 3 missile
An unarmed Minuteman 3 intercontinental ballistic missile was launched from California on a test flight to a target in the Pacific Ocean, the US Air Force Global Strike Command has said.
Caption: A file photo.
VANDENBERG (AP): An unarmed Minuteman 3 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) was launched from California early Tuesday on a test flight to a target in the Pacific Ocean, the Air Force Global Strike Command said.
The missile blasted off at 12:21 am from Vandenberg Air Force Base and its three re-entry vehicles travelled 4,200 miles (6,759 kilometres) to the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands as part of a developmental test, the command said from Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana.
Test launches are essential to sustaining the aging Minuteman 3 nuclear weapon system, Colonel Omar Colbert, the 576th Flight Test Squadron commander, said in a statement.
The Air Force said test launches are not a reaction to world events.
The launch calendars are developed three to five years in advance, and planning for individual launches takes six months to a year.
The missile blasted off at 12:21 am from Vandenberg Air Force Base and its three re-entry vehicles travelled 4,200 miles (6,759 kilometres) to the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands as part of a developmental test, the command said from Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana.
Test launches are essential to sustaining the aging Minuteman 3 nuclear weapon system, Colonel Omar Colbert, the 576th Flight Test Squadron commander, said in a statement.
The Air Force said test launches are not a reaction to world events.
The launch calendars are developed three to five years in advance, and planning for individual launches takes six months to a year.
