The U.S. Air Force has completed a test flight of the Boeing-built Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile system.
The ICBM platform with test re-entry vehicles traveled for approximately 4,200 miles and reached its target destination in the Marshall Islands after it launched Wednesday at 11:39 p.m. Pacific time from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, the Air Force reported Thursday.
Minuteman IIIÂ is a land-based weapon system that works to deter nuclear threats.
A group of Air Force Global Strike Command personnel under the 91st missile wing at Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota conducted the flight test.
Minot AFP is one of the service branch’s three missile installations responsible for the country’s ICBM alert forces.
The Defense Department works with the U.S. Strategic Command and the Energy Department to gather data from ICBM test launches for use in force development assessment efforts.
