The Air Force and Navy on Wednesday morning used an airborne control center to test-fire an unarmed Minuteman III missile, the services said.
The test gave the services a look at the Airborne Launch Control System (ALCS), an aircraft that can launch intercontinental ballistic missiles if ground-based communication with nuclear silos is disabled.
A joint team of Air Force Global Strike Command personnel and Navy aircrew launched the missile just after 5 a.m. Pacific Time using an Airborne Launch Control System (ALCS) installed on a Navy E-6 aircraft above Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, according to a statement from Global Strike Command.
The missile’s reentry vehicle traveled about 4,200 miles to the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands, according to the Air Force. Data gathered from this and other test launches is used to evaluate the health and effectiveness of the missile, command-and-control and other aspects of the air leg of the U.S. nuclear triad.
This and other test launches of Minuteman II ICBMs are routine – the Air Force said it has performed at least 300 – and are intended to ensure the delivery vehicles for nuclear warheads are operating properly.
The missile launched Wednesday was tipped with a single inert re-entry vehicle. In case of a nuclear war, a Minuteman II would carry either the W78 thermonuclear warhead designed at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico or the W87 warhead designed at Lawrence Livermore National Lab in California.
As it usually does when conducting practice exercises and weapon tests, Global Strike Command said the recent launch is not in response to actions by any nation or other actors.
Airmen from the 625th Strategic Operations Squadron out of Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, were aboard the U.S. Navy E-6 aircraft to demonstrate the reliability and effectiveness of the ALCS system. Airmen from the 341st Missile Wing at Malmstrom Air Force Base, Montana, also supported the test launch.
“We have a unique ability to strike a target anywhere, at any time, should the commander-in-chief deem it vital to our national security and the security of our allies,” said Col. Chris Cruise, 377th Test Evaluation Group commander. “An Airborne Launch Control System test validates that capability, ensures we have redundancy in our weapons systems, and showcases the interoperability with our Navy counterparts.”
