US Air Force fires Minuteman III ballistic missile as military tensions with Russia soar
USAF)launched an operational test of an unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
As tensions between the West and Moscow soared with the latter threatening to strike far-off regions using nuclear-capable SAR-MAT intercontinental ballistic missile, the United States Air Force (USAF) on Wednesday launched an operational test of an unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The launch came as bilateral relations thawed between Washington and Moscow over the ongoing military intervention in Ukraine.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly warned the US and its allies of nuclear-capable Sarmat, which he noted is capable of carrying 10 or more nuclear warheads and decoys, and can target thousands of miles away in the United States or Europe. In a defiant posture, the US Air Force Global Strike Command test-fired Minuteman III that travelled approximately 4,200 miles to the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands, the sprawling chain of volcanic islands and coral atolls located in the central Pacific Ocean in the middle of Hawaii and the Philippines.
The launch was conducted days after China flexed its military muscle in the South China Sea, and it was overseen by USAF’s 625th Strategic Operations Squadron at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb., and personnel from the US Navy’s Strategic Communications Wing. The ballistic missile was set off using the Airborne Launch Control System onboard Boeing E-6B Mercury aircraft that replaced US Navy’s EC-130Q Hercules TACAMO (“Take Charge And Move Out”) jets.
US Space Force’s Col. Bryan Titus, vice commander of Space Launch Delta 30 was the authority who instructed the launch. Airmen from the 341st Missile Wing at Malmstrom Air Force Base, Mont., 90th Missile Wing at F.E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyo., and 91st Missile Wing at Minot Air Force Base, N.D., helped support the test firing of Minuteman III ICBM.
USAF Global Strike Command (AFGSC) although, called the missile launch a “routine test” and Pentagon, in a press document, declared that the launch was strictly in accordance with the international ICBM and nuclear missile treaty obligations. The ICBM’s scheduled test launch demonstrates Washington’s military readiness and reliability of its weaponry and was planned months in advance.
“There will be an operational test launch of an Air Force Global Strike Command unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile early tomorrow morning, September 7, from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California,” Pentagon spokesman Brigadier General Pat Ryder informed in a briefing.
Pentagon spokesperson clarified that the US notified Russia and other countries about the scheduled launch well in advance. The ICBM test was conducted to “demonstrate the readiness of US nuclear forces and provide confidence in the security and effectiveness of the nation’s nuclear deterrent,” Ryder told reporters on the sidelines of a Pentagon briefing. Russia, in its increasingly belligerent posture against Europe, had declared it would bolster its military capabilities and expand the Army as it launches a “special military operation” in Ukraine.
Moscow threatens to use ‘Satan-2’ missile on West
Russia’s authoritarian leader Putin, in an angst-laden tone, said that Moscow will “continue to develop and strengthen its armed forces, taking into account potential military threats and risks.” He also categorically hailed the Russian troops invading neighbouring Ukraine for strategic combat operations that they implemented “with courage, professionalism: like real heroes”.
Just last month, Russia’s defence committee deputy chairman, Aleksey Zhuravlyov, threatened to use the RS-28 Sarmat hypersonic nuclear missile – known as “Satan-2” in the West – to attack Britain in just “200 seconds”. “If the United States threatens our state, it’s good: here is the Sarmat for you, and there will be nuclear ashes from you if you think that Russia should not exist. And Finland says that it is at one with the USA. Well, get in line,” he asserted.
“We [Russia] can hit with a Sarmat from Siberia, and even reach the UK. And if we strike from Kaliningrad… the hypersonic’s reaching time is 200 seconds – so go ahead, guys,” threatened Russia’s defence committee deputy chairman.
