Posted on 06/05/2002 6:58:23 PM PDT by vannrox
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Story Url: http://news.lycos.com/news/story.asp?section=LycosScience&storyId=52927 Peacekeeping the Missiles
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| Monday, June 03, 2002 8:47 a.m. EDT |
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VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (AP) - An unarmed 70-foot Peacekeeper missile was launched early Monday in a routine test of the country's intercontinental ballistic missile system, the Air Force said.
The 198,000-pound missile lifted off from the central California coast at 1:01 a.m. and sent nine unarmed re-entry vehicles toward a target 4,800 miles away on the Kwajalein Missile Range in the Marshall Islands 
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The missile used in the test was randomly selected from missiles at F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne , Wyo., as part of the routine program to verify the reliability of the country's intercontinental ballistic missile force, the Air Force said in a statement. The test was considered successful, the statement said.
The most recent previous such launch from Vandenberg was of an unarmed Minuteman III missile April 8.
The U.S. arsenal of land-based long-range nuclear missiles includes 50 Peacekeepers, each of which is armed with 10 warheads, and 500 Minuteman IIIs, with three warheads apiece
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Translation: "Saddam, we CAN still vaporize you just by making a phone call and turning two keys!"
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