- US Air Force Global Strike Command tested an ICBM at Vandenberg Air Force Base early on February 5.
- The missile flew about 4,200 miles across the Pacific, reaching Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands.
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BARKSDALE AIR FORCE BASE, Louisiana - A team of Air Force Global Strike Command Airmen from the 341st Missile Wing at Malmstrom Air Force Base, Montana, the 90th Missile Wing at F.E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyoming, and the 91st Missile Wing at Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota, launched an unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile equipped with a test reentry vehicle at 12:33 a.m. Pacific Time on February 5 from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.
The ICBM's reentry vehicle traveled approximately 4,200 miles to the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. These test launches verify the accuracy and reliability of the ICBM weapon system, providing valuable data to ensure a continued safe, secure and effective nuclear deterrent. Test launches are not a response or reaction to world events or regional tensions.
This test was a Developmental Test Launch, which differs from routine Operational Test Launches (Glory Trips).
Rather than randomly selecting a fielded ICBM to verify fleet-wide reliability, a Developmental Test Launch uses a spare missile from storage to validate flight worthiness of new or replacement components in an as-near-to operational environment as possible. Flight Test Unit 2 (FTU 2) is the second of four FTUs scheduled over the next several years to validate replacement components that will ensure continued Minuteman III viability. FTU 1 occurred in February of 2019.