US: Military Carried Out Routine ICBM Test

Pentagon statement confirms that US military has carried out a routine test of an unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile.

• Says that the test 'showed the readiness of US nuclear forces'.
• The missile was launched from the Vandenberg Space Force Base, California to land at the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands in the eastern Pacific Ocean. It was supposed to be tested in March, but this was postponed due to the war in Ukraine. It was then supposed to be tested a couple of weeks ago but this launch was also postponed due to House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi's controversial trip to Taiwan.
• On Aug 11, head of U.S. Strategic Command, Adm. Charles Richard, stated that “The Minuteman III tests are just like other tests of our strategic systems...Those tests are really important. We do them all the time. We do three to five per year. We do it across all legs of the [nuclear] triad.” Nuclear triad formed of ICBMs, submarine-launched missiles, and strategic aerial bombers.
• Comes as tensions between US and China over Taiwan remain at multi-year highs, while there are also concerns among US allies in Asia (mainly Japan and South Korea) about the potential for more missile launches or nuclear tests from North Korea.