On the night of August 16, the United States conducted a training launch of the Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile.
The launch of this ICBM was supposed to take place earlier, but it was postponed due to tensions over Taiwan.
The US Air Force Global Strike Command informed about the successful testing of the ICBM.
How did the launch go?
Equipped with a test warhead, the ICBM was launched at 00:49 on August 16 from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
The head of the rocket, having covered a distance of 4,200 miles, reached the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean.
The US Air Force noted that the purpose of the tests was to demonstrate the readiness and effectiveness of American nuclear forces.
The Air Force statement emphasized that ICBM testing is not a result of current events in the world.
Such tests were carried out more than 300 times, – noted in a US Air Force press release.
Why were the tests postponed?
Washington decided to postpone ICBM testing in early August due to tensions between the United States and China that arose from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan.
In April, tests of the same ICBM were canceled to avoid an escalation of confrontation with Russia.
