The U.S. Air Force launched an unarmed intercontinental ballistic missile at 1:13 a.m.
Pacific Standard Time on Wednesday.
The Minuteman III took off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, with the base
confirming the test of the Air Force Global Strike Command weapon.
According to Farrah Kaufmann with the base’s public affairs team, the ICBM was equipped
with three test reentry vehicles, and the weapon traveled 4,200 miles or 6,760 km at
more than 20 Mach to a test range at the Kwajalein Atoll near the Marshall Islands.
The launch was planned to verify the effectiveness and readiness of the missile system and U.S.
nuclear forces, Ryder said.
“The purpose of the ICBM test launch program is to demonstrate the readiness of U.S. nuclear
forces and provide confidence in the security and effectiveness of the nation’s nuclear
deterrent.”
In this video Defense Updates analyzes why 50 year old American Minuteman III is still
sending shivers down the spine of rivals ? Let’s get started
The
Minuteman family of missiles has served as the backbone of the U.S. land-based nuclear
strategic force since 1962.
In 1955, the Soviet Union successfully tested a hydrogen bomb, and in 1957 it launched the
Sputnik satellite, surpassing the United States in rocket technology.
Fearing that the Soviet Union had the ability to attack the United States with intercontinental
ballistic missiles (ICBM), the United States made the development of a reliable, rapid-response
ballistic missile the highest priority.
On Feb. 27, 1958, the U.S. Air Force received approval from the Department of Defense to
begin research and development on the new missile designated Weapon System 133-A, called
the “Minuteman”.
On Oct. 9, 1958, the Air Force announced its selection of Boeing as assembly and test contractor
for the Minuteman missile.
The weapon is tasked primarily with the deterrence role, threatening Soviet cities with a second
strike counter value counterattack if the U.S. was attacked
However, with the development of the U.S. Navy's Polaris which addressed the same role,
the Air Force began to modify Minuteman into a weapon with much greater accuracy with the
specific intent of allowing it to attack hardened military targets, including Soviet missile
silos.
The Minuteman III began development in 1964 and entered service in 1970.
It's command and control lie with the Air Force Global Strike Command.
America deployed around 1,000 Minutemen III by the end of the 1970s.
The number shrunk to around 450 by September 2017 and currently, there are about 400.
The U.S military plans to keep the missile in service until at least 2030
Minuteman series of missile gained range with incremental versions with Minuteman III acknowledged
to have an operational range of 8,100 miles or 13,000 km though the exact range is classified.
As per many analysts, the missile actually can travel as far as 9,950 miles or 16,000
km depending on the warhead configuration.
Minuteman III is designed to be launched from missile silos.
A missile silo is a vertical cylindrical structure constructed underground, for the storage and
launching of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).
The structures typically have the missile some distance below ground, protected by a
large "blast door" on top.
They are usually connected, physically and/or electronically, to a missile launch control
center.
Minuteman-III missiles are regularly tested with launches from Vandenberg Air Force Base
in order to validate the effectiveness, readiness, and accuracy of the weapon system, as well
as to support the system's primary purpose, nuclear deterrence.
It has nearly 100 percent reliability.
The original inertial navigation system provided it with an accuracy of about 200 m Circular
Error Probable (CEP), but an updated inertial guidance system gives it 120 m CEP.
This basically means the missile can be targeted with near pinpoint accuracy even at long distances.
Minuteman III has three-stage solid-fuel rocket engines.
The first stage is Thiokol TU-122, the second stage is Aerojet-General SR-19-AJ-1 and the
third stage is Aerojet/Thiokol SR73-AJ/TC-1.
The solid-fuel missile can stand ready for extended periods of time with little maintenance.
Hence these can be launched on command without needing preparation.
President of the United States can authorize a nuclear attack from fixed command centers,
such as the White House Situation Room or also through 'Nuclear Football'.
The nuclear football is a briefcase, that contains codes which can be used by the President
of the United States to authorize a nuclear attack while away from fixed command centers.
The president is always accompanied by a military aide carrying the "football”.
So, the missile can be launched at any time and under any circumstances.
A multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle (MIRV) is a ballistic missile payload
containing several warheads, each capable of being aimed to hit a different target.MIRV
allows separately targeted nuclear warheads to be sent on their independent ways after
the main propulsion stages of the missile launch have shut down.
This technology is very complex and greatly increases the destructive power of a missile.
Minuteman III was the first true MIRV capable missile.
It can carry a maximum of 3 warheads and these can be independently targeted against 3 different
locations
It carries W78 or W87 warhead.
The W78 thermonuclear warhead is the warhead used on most of the United States Minuteman
III missiles.
The W78 has a publicly announced yield of 335–350 kilotons of TNT.
The W87 is an improvement on W78, its design includes all modern safety features.
The original yield of the W87 was 300 kilotons of TNT but has the announced ability to be
upgraded to a yield of 475 kilotons.
So, a single missile is capable of unleashing destructive power of around 1000 to 1400 kt
of TNT.
To give viewers a perspective, Little Boy atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima had a yield
of 15 kt of TNT and Fat Man atomic bomb that was detonated over Nagasaki had a yield of
21 kt of TNT.
Several ICBM have been developed and deployed by nation after Minuteman III
This includes Chinese Dongfeng-41 and Russian Topol-M . Some of these have carry more MIRV.
But none of the Chinese or Russian missile have shown the reliability displayed by Minuteman
III.
There is hardly any failures and target parameters have always been achieved during the test
launches of Minuteman III.
This has been made possible by excellent maintenance and upgrades that have kept the missile updated
as well as removed any existing niggles
Russia's new RS-28 Sarmat heavy ICBM is a step ahead of Minuteman III.
But its production has not yet started.
Though the missile is planned for deployment in 2022, there is high possibility that it
could be delayed like many other Russian systems.
All in all it can be said that when it comes to genuine nuclear deterrence, Minuteman III
is still the ‘boss' and the enemy knows that to will not fail during a crunch time.