U.S. Conducts Its Second Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Test In One Week

An unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) streaks through the sky of Vandenberg in California, August 25, 2005. The U.S. test fired its second ICBM in a week on Thursday. REUTERS

Reuters: U.S. test-fires ICBMs to stress its power to Russia, North Korea

The U.S. military test-fired its second intercontinental ballistic missile in a week on Thursday night, seeking to demonstrate its nuclear arms capacity at a time of rising strategic tensions with Russia and North Korea.

The unarmed Minuteman III missile roared out of a silo at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California late at night, raced across the sky at speeds of up to 15,000 mph (24,000 kph) and landed a half hour later in a target area 4,200 miles (6,500 km) away near Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands of the South Pacific.

Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work, who witnessed the launch, said the U.S. tests, conducted at least 15 times since January 2011, send a message to strategic rivals like Russia, China and North Korea that Washington has an effective nuclear arsenal.

"That’s exactly why we do this," Work told reporters before the launch.

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