Air Force Launches Minuteman III ICBM from the California Coast - part of a series of strategic forces exercises in Asia-Pacfic

The US Air Force has been conducting a series of strategic nuclear forces exercises in the Asia-Pacific region,which are being seen as a warning to a North Korean regime bent on acquiring more and more nuclear weapons and the missiles to deliver them on distant targets,especially the United States.At 12:02 am Pacific Daylight Savings Time this morning,the Air Force's Global Strike Command launched the second Minuteman III Intercontinental Ballistic Missile from Vandenberg Air Force Base,California in a week.The first missile was launched last Wednesday from the base northwest of Santa Barbara that is the home of the 30th Space Wing and commonly used for launching Pentagon spy satellites as well as ICBM tests.*
The Minuteman III,a 60 year-old system that has been upgraded for improved targeting and accuracy,is housed in silos at three GSC bases.Today's missile was randomly pulled from a silo at Malmstrom Air Force Base,Montana and reassembled at Vandenberg prior to launch.It was equipped with a single test re-entry vehicle with a telemetry package for operational testing along its course to Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands,about 4200 miles from Vandenberg.The test is intended to demonstrate to the world that the land-based leg of the nuclear triad is a safe,reliable and effective deterrent force for the US and her allies.*
Colonel Chris Moss is commander of the 30th Space Wing at Vandenberg AFB,and as such is the launch decision authority.He noted that:
The tremendous teamwork between the 30th Space Wing and Air Force Global Strike Command is apparent each time we launch a Minuteman III missile.*
The first of the two ICBM tests from Vandenberg,on Wednesday 26 April 2017,was a combined team effort by Global Strike Command Airmen from 90th Missile Wing at F.E. Warren AFB,Wyoming;341st Missile Wing at Malmstrom AFB,Montana;and 625th Strategic Operations Squadron at Offut AFB,Nebraska.The missile used in that test was launched with a command delivered from the Air Launch Control System on a US Navy E-6 Mercury jet.*
Besides the two missile tests,AF Global Strike Command provided two of its B-1B Lancer strategic nuclear bombers from their forward operating base,Andersen Air Force Base,Guam,for a series of exercises with the air forces of South Korea and Japan.The bombers were escorted by South Korean fighter jets and flew near the Korean peninsula.The Air Force declined to disclose just how close the drills got to North Korea;nor whether the B-1Bs were carrying any weapons.
For its part,North Korea complained that,during the course of the exercises,the US planes conducted a nuclear bomb-dropping drill against major objects.The reckless military provocation is pushing the situation on the Korean peninsula to the brink of nuclear war,the official KCNA news agency added.*
Meanwhile,the US Army's Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system,or THAAD,has reached initial operational capability in South Korea,US officials told Reuters;but it will take several more months to get fully operational.In other Asia-Pacific action,CIA director Mike Pompeo flew to South Korea for detailed security talks with his South Korean colleague,Lee Byung-ho,and a visit to Yeonpyeong Island,which was attacked by North Korea in 2010,even as the USS Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group arrived in the Sea of Japan on Saturday 29 April for exercises with South Korea and Japan.The Navy,as a matter of policy,doesn't disclose whether its ships are carrying nuclear weapons or not,but its F/A-18 fighter jets are capable of carrying the B-61 intermediate yield nuclear weapon.

US Strategic and Nuclear Forces:Building Up to the Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent

On 29 July 2016,the US Air Force issued Request for Proposals notices for both the Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD) and the Long-Range Standoff Missile (LRSO).The programmes,regarded as critical because other nations have already upgraded their own strategic and nuclear forces,will provide tens of billions of dollars of new business for the major defence contractors through 2075.Boeing,Lockheed Martin and Northrup Grumman have already expressed interest in bidding on the two GBSD contracts expected to be awarded by the fourth quarter of fiscal 2017.It is unknown whether BAE Systems,Orbital ATK and SpaceX are also interested in the competition.*
It is believed the Air Force is looking to build about 642 new intercontinental ballistic missiles,a one-for-one replacement of the Minuteman III plus test missiles,and link them to modernised silos and launch control systems.*
The Minuteman III flight systems in use today were fielded the late 1990s and early 2000s with an intended 20-year lifespan,the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center Public Affairs said.The current Minuteman III system will face increased operational and sustainment challenges until it can be replaced.The Air Force is focused on developing and delivering an integrated weapon system,including launch and C2 segments.The new GBSD system will meet existing national requirements,while having the adaptability and flexibility to affordably address changing technological and threat environments through 2075.Deployment is projected to begin in the late 2020s.*
The Minuteman III will have a difficult time surviving in the active anti-access/area denial environment that we will be dealing with in the 2030 and beyond time period,added General Robin Rand,Commander of US Global Strike Command,to the House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee in March.
Among developments of concern to the national security community would be both laser and microwave emissions countermeasures against the Minuteman III and other legacy strategic assets,and advanced detection capabilities of potential adversaries such as Russia and China.If the US cannot assure that its bombs and warheads will hit their targets,that changes the strategic stability outlook.*
With the flexibilty to receive modifications such as decoys and electronic countermeasures,the new ICBMs will be very modular so they can be readily upgraded against any countermeasures.*
Northrop Grumman has already been selected as prime contractor of the new Long- Range Strategic Bomber,the B-21.*
Lockheed Martin (LMT),Boeing (BA),Northrop Grumman (NOC)