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The U.S. Air Force and Space Force collaborated on a test missile launch Wednesday amid rising tensions with North Korea. Air Force Global Strike Command test launched an unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) from the Vandenberg Space Force Base. White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan issued a stern warning to North Korea during a press briefing on Tuesday, responding to reports that dictator Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin may meet in-person.

The Pentagon announced Wednesday it will delay its nuclear missile test scheduled for this weekend in the midst of Russian President Vladimir Putin's attack on Ukraine so he does not 'misunderstand' the move. Kirby said the U.S. did not put its nuclear forces on heightened alert in response to Putin's move.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – A test launch of an unarmed intercontinental ballistic missile Minuteman III failed and the cause is unknown and being investigated, the US Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC) said on Wednesday. "An unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile test launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, experienced a ground abort prior to launch. The cause of the ground abort is currently under investigation, and Air Force Global Strike Command is assessing the potential to reschedule the launch", AFGSC said in a press release. The three-stage land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles of the Minuteman family were originally intended for...

US Air Force tests Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile The U.S. Air Force on Wednesday test launched an unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, officials said. According to a statement from Air Force Global Strike Command, the missile took off at 5:26 am (12:26 GMT) and was successful. “A reliable test launch occurs when a test missile launches, completes its flight path within a designated safety corridor, the equipment functions properly, sensor data is collected, and the test reentry vehicle impacts where targeted,” the statement read. “Though the reentry vehicle reached its intended...

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- A team of Air Force Global Strike Command Airmen launched an unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile equipped with a test reentry vehicle today at 3:53 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. The test reentry vehicle impacted in a pre-established test area in the Pacific Ocean near the island of Guam approximately 40 minutes after launch. All test launches verify the accuracy and reliability of the ICBM weapon system, providing valuable data to ensure a safe, secure and effective nuclear deterrent. The launch team, under the direction of the 576th...

The U.S. Air Force has announced its strategy for replacing America’s Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles—which have stood alert, awaiting Armageddon, for nearly five decades. Making nukes is hard. But squeezing another multi-billion-dollar project into the Air Force’s already bulging budget is perhaps the bigger challenge. We’re talking about the Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent, an effort to replace the stockpile of Minuteman nuclear missiles Boeing built for the Pentagon back in the late 1960s.

U.S. delays missile test to avoid stoking N.Korea tensions By Phil Stewart WASHINGTON | Sun Apr 7, 2013 8:08am IST (Reuters) - The United States has decided to delay a long-planned missile test scheduled for next week out of California "to avoid any misperception or miscalculation," given tensions with North Korea, a senior U.S. defense official said on Saturday. /snip The U.S. decision will delay a test of the Minuteman III intercontinental missile, which had been scheduled for next week out of Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. /snip

The U.S. military is looking into an incident on Saturday in which it lost communications with 50 long-range nuclear-armed missiles based in the northern United States. The U.S. Air Force's new Global Strike Command lost communications with the missiles for about 45 minutes, and says it immediately dispatched troops to inspect the sites. The check determined there was no damage and no evidence of sabotage. A spokesman for the command says investigators believe a faulty circuit board at a control center was to blame. The spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel John Thomas, says experts found that the same type of part failed...

Despite an ongoing Defense Department review of potential follow-on options for the Air Force's premiere intercontinental ballistic missile program, development of a new ICBM system will not be one of those options, Air Force Secretary Michael Donley said today. While the final results and subsequent recommendations from the Minuteman III ICBM review are not due for months, the service is not ready to dedicate funding or other resources toward the development of a new nuclear missile, Donley said during a breakfast in Washington. “We have already taken steps to get [the Minuteman III] to 2020; now we are focused on...

For nearly 50 years, Strategic Air Command maintained an unsparing, no-nonsense operational culture. After the Air Force disestablished the legendary SAC at the end of the Cold War, however, USAF’s nuclear element slowly drifted away from that exacting standard. It was a mistake, as everyone now will readily, almost compulsively, concede. That certainly goes for Lt. Gen. Frank G. Klotz, the officer chosen to head USAF’s new Global Strike Command. “If there is one unchanging, immutable truth” about the nuclear arsenal, said Klotz, “it is that it demands constant and undivided attention.” That didn’t carry on in the post-SAC years,...

The U.S. Strategic Command last year held one of its largest major exercises simulating a nuclear attack on the United States and a counterstrike involving bombers, ground-based missiles and submarine-launched missiles. Air Force Gen. Kevin Chilton last week told the House Armed Services subcommittee that the exercise was “the most extensive nuclear command, control and communications field exercise in over a decade.” “It demonstrated the full range of nuclear deterrence capabilities by integrating submarine strategic deterrent patrols, more than 90 aircraft sorties, an ICBM test launch, and five days of continuous airborne command-and-control operations,” he said. The exercise, held from...

Two Air Force units responsible for the nuclear missiles warehoused in Montana failed inspections last month, military officials said Monday. There is no threat to the public and the units at Malmstrom Air Force Base near Great Falls are still performing their missions while correcting the problems, according to Global Strike Command and Air Force Materiel Command, which oversee the units. The 341st Missile Wing and 16th Munitions Squadron received "unsatisfactory" ratings in February from Air Force inspector general teams evaluating the units' ability to carry out their missions. Neither Global Strike Command, which oversees the 341st Missile Wing, nor...

Vandenberg officials announced two days before the planned Nov. 18 launch that the missile test’s postponement would “allow for the completion of ground testing prior to launching.” However, in response to questions submitted this month, Air Force officials eventually confirmed that some of sort of problem with the weapon led to the postponement. “All that can be said at this time is that the problem was on-board the missile, and the problem is being actively analyzed,” officials said in a written statement. “Once the analysis is complete more information may be available. The analysis will focus on all aspects of...

The U.S. Air Force test program for its Minuteman III ICBMs has been interrupted by a "mechanical problem" that will delay the next test seven months. The missile, selected at random from those stored in Midwest silos, was brought to Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, placed in a silo there, and readied for firing into the Pacific. But during the installation of the missile in the silo, a problem was encountered. The air force won't say what exactly the problems is, or if it is something common to other Minuteman missiles. This kind of testing is not as realistic...

The Pentagon has missed the deadline set by the 2001 Nuclear Posture Review for the retirement of the W62 nuclear warhead. Retirement of the warhead, which arms a portion of the 450 U.S. Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles, was scheduled for completion in Fiscal Year 2009, which ended on September 30th. But the Department of Defense has been unable to confirm the warhead has been retired, saying instead earlier today: “The retirement of the W62 is progressing toward completion.” The 2001 Nuclear Posture Review decided that, “the W62 will be retired by the end of Fiscal Year 2009.” The schedule...

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- The Air Force successfully launched an unarmed intercontinental ballistic missile early Thursday. The Minuteman III dummy warheads were fired at 3:14 a.m. and traveled about 4,200 miles before hitting a water target in the Marshall Islands.

6/14/2006 - VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (AFPN) -- An unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile was launched from Launch Facility-04 on North Vandenberg at 1:22 a.m. today. The primary purpose of the launch was to assess and demonstrate the operational effectiveness of the Minuteman III weapon system. The missile’s three unarmed re-entry vehicles traveled approximately 4,800 miles in about 30 minutes, hitting pre-determined targets at the Kwajelin Missile Range in the western chain of the Marshall Islands. Col. Jack Weinstein, 30th Space Wing commander, was the spacelift commander. Lt. Col. S.L. Davis, 576th Flight Test Squadron commander, was the...

Protest puts priest back behind bars By Cara Eastwood rep4@wyomingnews.com Published in the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle CHEYENNE - A Catholic priest with a flair for dramatic civil disobedience was arrested Friday in Weld County, Colo., for scaling the fence around a Minuteman III missile site near New Raymer, Colo. Using two ladders to scale each side of the towering chain-link fence, the 71-year-old Rev. Carl Kabat wore his signature clown suit for the demonstration and carried signs protesting the United States' nuclear arsenal. "The nuclear bomb that is on the ground here is more than 20 times more powerful than the...

The U.S. military will upgrade its Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles while retiring its Peacekeeper missile force, a senior officer told a Senate subcommittee March 25. The larger, multinuclear-warhead-carrying Peacekeeper ICBMs are being decommissioned as part of the Moscow Treaty brokered between the United States and Russia in May 2002. "With Peacekeeper deactivation proceeding as planned, the Air Force has implemented an aggressive life extension program for the Minuteman III ICBM force to ensure weapon system reliability through 2020," Navy Adm. James O. Ellis Jr. explained to members of the Senate Strategic Forces Subcommittee. Ellis heads the U.S. Strategic Command...