Overview
- The U.S. Air Force launched an unarmed Minuteman III ICBM at 11:01 p.m. PT on March 3 from Vandenberg Space Force Base, sending two telemetry-equipped reentry vehicles roughly 4,200 miles to the Kwajalein Atoll impact area.
- Air Force Global Strike Command described the event as a routine, long-planned evaluation that is not connected to current global events, noting it is part of a decades-long program with more than 300 similar tests.
- The GT-255 flight assessed guidance performance, individual missile components, and the deployment of multiple reentry vehicles, according to 576th Flight Test Squadron commander Lt. Col. Karrie Wray.
- Telemetry was collected by the 377th Test and Evaluation Group, with results to be shared with oversight partners including U.S. Strategic Command and the Department of Energy.
- Minuteman III remains the land-based leg of the U.S. nuclear triad, as the Air Force continues planning for its replacement with the LGM-35A Sentinel program.