Days after North Korea fired a rocket into the Sea of Japan, the U. S. Air Force launched an unarmed intercontinental ballistic missile Wednesday from Vandenberg Air Force Base.
An unarmed intercontinental ballistic missile was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base early Wednesday to test the weapon’s reliability to “defend against attacks on the United States and its allies, ” the Air Force said.
The Minuteman III missile was fired at 2: 10 a.m. from the base northwest of Santa Barbara, according to the Air Force Global Strike Command. The missile, equipped with a single test reentry vehicle, traveled 4,200 miles to a test range near the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands.
The strike command said the test was “not a response to recent North Korean actions.” Rather the launch “demonstrates that the United States’ nuclear enterprise is safe, secure, effective” and can protect against strikes, the command said.
The test comes after North Korea launched an intercontinental ballistic missile on Friday — the second in less than a month. The two-stage missile crashed off the coast of Japan’s northernmost island, Hokkaido. Independent defense analysts say such a missile may be capable of reaching California and other parts of the West Coast.
On Tuesday, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the U. S. government would agree to a dialogue with North Korea if it relinquishes its nuclear program .
