Minuteman launch. (Photo : USAF)
The United States test fired an LGM-30G Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile from California into the Pacific Ocean on Sept. 5, the same day North Korea fired missiles into the Sea of Japan and four days before North Korea conducted its largest nuclear test.
The unarmed Minuteman III launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California flew 6,800 kilometers to the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands, said the U.S. Air Force. Eleven of the 97 islands are leased by the United States and are part of the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site.
The Air Force said the missile's re-entry vehicle contained a telemetry package for operational testing. The Minuteman test was the first of its kind since February. The Air Force, however, conducted five test firings in January and February.
Col. Craig Ramsey, the 576th Flight Test Squadron commander, said the September launch took six months to complete and needed a reconfiguration of test assets.
The Minuteman test, which took place a few hours after the North Korean triple launch, also comes at a time when President Barack Obama has called for more deterrence measures against North Korea and its outrageous leadership, and reaffirmed U.S. commitment to the defense of its Asian allies.
If the test was a warning to North Korea not to escalate its missile and nuclear programs, it apparently failed in this purpose.
On Sept.9, North Korea detonated an underground nuclear warhead with a yield of 10 kilotons, the most powerful yet. It claims the warhead can be mounted on ballistic missiles and will allow it to produce "a variety of smaller, lighter and diversified nuclear warheads of higher strike power."
North Korea has conducted five nuclear tests, each more powerful than its predecessor.
"North Korea needs to know that provocations will only invite more pressure and further deepen its isolation," said U.S. President Barack Obama.
The current LGM-30G Minuteman III has a range in excess of 13,000 kilometers and a circular error probability of just 120 meters.
The Minuteman III, which entered service in 1970, carries a single warhead, either the W78 with a yield of 300 kilotons or the W87 with a yield of 475 kilotons. The U.S. has a stockpile of some 450 Minuteman IIIs.
