Tuesday at California’s Vandenberg Space Force base, the U.S. launched a Minuteman III missile, “in an important test of the weapon’s ability to strike its targets with multiple warheads,” according to Air and Space Forces magazine:
The Minuteman III missiles that form a critical leg of the U.S. nuclear triad each carry one nuclear-armed reentry vehicle. But the missile that was tested carried three test warheads… The intercontinental ballastic missile (ICBM) test was controlled by an airborne command post in a test of the U.S. ability to launch its nuclear deterrent from a survivable platform…. Gen. Thomas A. Bussiere, the commander of Air Force Global Strike Command, said in a release: “An airborne launch validates the survivability of our ICBMs, which serve as the strategic backstop of our nation’s defense and defense of allies and partners….”
The three test reentry vehicles — one high-fidelity Joint Test Assembly, which carries non-nuclear explosives,