For the fourth time in 2019, a Minuteman III missile with a mock warhead blasted out of its underground silo early Wednesday morning at Vandenberg Air Force Base to test the weapon system’s accuracy and reliability.
The three-stage missile departed at 1:13 a.m. — the opening of a six-hour opportunity — from a launch facility on North Base.
“The test demonstrates that the United States’ nuclear deterrent is robust, flexible, ready and appropriately tailored to deter 21st century threats and reassure our allies. Test launches are not a response or reaction to world events or regional tensions,” Air Force Global Strike Command representatives said.
Upon liftoff, the military tracked the test re-entry vehicle as it traveled approximately 4,200 miles to the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands.
“The flight test program demonstrates one part of the operational capability of the ICBM weapon system,” said Col. Omar Colbert, 576th Flight Test Squadron commander.
“The Minuteman III is nearly 50 years old, and continued test launches are essential in ensuring its reliability until the mid-2030s when the Ground Base Strategic Deterrent is fully in place,” Colbert said. “Most importantly, this visible message of national security serves to assure our partners and dissuade potential aggressors.”
Members of the 576th Flight Test Squadron located at Vandenberg installed the test-unique equipment on the weapon so the Air Force could collect data about the flight and destroy the vehicle if it veered off course.
A team from Malmstrom AFB, Montana also traveled to Vandenberg to prep the weapon and conduct the test.
Vandenberg hosts several Minuteman III missile tests each year to gather data about the fleet since some 400 missiles sit on alert 24 hours a day near Malmstrom AFB along with Minot AFB, North Dakota and F.E. Warren AFB, Wyoming.
“It’s been an incredible opportunity for Malmstrom’s team of combat crew and maintenance members to partner with the professionals from the 576th FLTS and 30th Space Wing,” said Maj. Kurt Antonio, Task Force commander. “I’m extremely proud of the team’s hard work and dedication to accomplish a unique and important mission to prepare the ICBM for the test and monitor the sortie up until test execution.
“The attention given to every task accomplished here reflects the precision and professionalism they – and our fellow Airmen up north – bring every day to ensure the success of our mission out in the missile field,” he said.
Launch calendars are built three to five years in advance, and planning for each individual launch begins six months to a year before blastoff so the tests do not occur in response to real-world events, Air Force officials said.
Leaders of Santa Barbara-based Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, which is dedicated to abolishing nuclear weapons, criticized Wednesday’s test
The test landed days after 13 countries “deepened their formal ties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons,” according to Rick Wayman, deputy director of the foundation.
“More than an ‘operational test’ it reminds us that the world as we know it can be wiped out in an instant,” Wayman said.
— Noozhawk North County editor Janene Scully can be reached at jscully@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
