The US Air Force and the US Space Force conducted two routine test launches of unarmed intercontinental ballistic missiles this week.
Photo: Agence France-Presse
The first of the two rockets lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on June 4 at 0:56 a.m. local time. The second departed at 1:46 a.m. on June 6, also from Vandenberg. The Minuteman 3 missiles were not armed, that is, they did not have a warhead, and each carried a return vehicle, he writes. Mandarin.
The US Air Force regularly conducts such tests to demonstrate the safety, reliability and effectiveness of America's nuclear deterrent to deter 21st century threats and reassure our allies.
– says the statement of the Air Forces Global Strike Command. The announcement stresses that the tests were not initiated in response to “current global events” but were merely routine exercises. After launch, both Minuteman III ICBMs flew approximately 6,760 kilometers before the reentry vehicles landed at the US Army's Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Base on Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands.
In a statement, Col. Chris Cruz, 377th Test and Evaluation Group commander, praised the joint US Air Force and Space Force team for its ability to conduct two tests in such a short period of time.
The fact that we were able to complete two test launches within a week is a testament to the excellence and professionalism that our pilots and astronauts perform every day on this mission.
Cruz said in the statement. “This morning's launch demonstrates our commitment to deterrence as we continue to be a cornerstone of the security of our allies and partners around the world,” he added.
In another Defense Department statement, Lieutenant Colonel Casey A. Rumfelt, the regional director for the Reagan Test Base, said the pace of the launch exercises was a “Super Bowl version” for the base, adding that a third test was expected within a short period. A few weeks.
