United States tests Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile from Vandenberg Space Force Base

Key facts

• The United States Air Force Global Strike Command launched an unarmed LGM-30G Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile at 11:01 p.m. Pacific Time on 3 March from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California.
• The missile, designated GT 255, carried two test re-entry vehicles that traveled thousands of miles to a pre-determined target at Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands.
• The test launch was scheduled years in advance and was not conducted in response to current world events, according to the Office of Public Affairs of the Air Force Global Strike Command.
• The LGM-30G Minuteman III is a silo-launched, surface-attack intercontinental ballistic missile with a range of more than 9,650 kilometers and a speed of approximately 24,000 kilometers per hour at burnout.
• The current force structure comprises 400 Minuteman III missiles assigned across three missile wings: the 90th Missile Wing at F.E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyoming; the 341st Missile Wing at Malmstrom Air Force Base, Montana; and the 91st Missile Wing at Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota.
• The Air Force plans to replace the Minuteman III with the LGM-35A Sentinel to modernize the land-based leg of the US nuclear triad.