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"2 US Nuke Missiles Fired Out Over Pacific Meant as Message"
newsmax.com
When it comes to deterring an attack by North Korea or other potential adversaries, the missile is the message, and for the second time this month the United States has launched a Minuteman 3 nuclear missile out over the Pacific.
Like a giant pen stroke in the sky, the unarmed Minuteman 3 roared out of its underground bunker on the California coastline on Thursday, reported The Associated Press, inscribing the signature of American power amid growing worry about North Korea's pursuit of nuclear weapons capable of reaching U.S. soil.
The Minuteman missile, toting a payload of test instruments rather than a nuclear warhead, arced toward its test range in the waters of the Kwajalein Island chain about 2,500 miles southwest of Honolulu.
The missile test, dubbed "Glory Trip 218," was the second this month and the latest in a series designed to confirm the reliability of the Cold War-era missile and all its components. The Minuteman 3, first deployed in 1970, has long exceeded its original 10-year lifespan. It is so old that vital parts are no longer in production.
The Air Force operates 450 Minuteman missiles – 150 at each of three missile fields in Wyoming, Montana and North Dakota. A few times a year, one missile is pulled from its silo and trucked to Vandenberg, minus its nuclear warhead, for a test launch.
Aside from confirming technical soundness, Minuteman test launches are the U.S. military's way of sharpening the message that forms the foundation of U.S. nuclear deterrence theory – that if potential attackers believe U.S. nuclear missiles and bombs are ready for war at all times, then no adversary would dare start a nuclear fight.
The credibility of this message can be damaged by signs of weakness or instability in the nuclear weapons force. In 2013-14 the Associated Press documented morale, training, leadership and equipment problems in the Minuteman force, and in January the Air Force acknowledged to the AP that errors by a maintenance crew damaged an armed Minuteman in May 2014.
Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work said in an interview ahead of Thursday's launch that he sees good progress in fixing the problems in the nuclear missile corps. He also said the Vandenberg test launches are critically important.
"It is a signal to anyone who has nuclear weapons that we are prepared to use nuclear weapons in defense of our country, if necessary," he said.
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