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The United States of America gave Kim Jong Un a giant middle finger in the middle of the night. For the second time in two weeks, the U.S. launched an intercontinental ballistic missile that is capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.
The three-stage ICBM was randomly pulled from a silo on Malmstrom Air Force Base and blasted off from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California at 12:02 a.m. on Wednesday. The unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile was launched by crew members from the 341st Missile Wing.
A statement by Vanderberg AFB:
The ICBM was equipped with a single test reentry vehicle, and traveled approximately 4,200 miles to a test range near the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. These ICBM test launches verify the accuracy and reliability of the weapon system, providing valuable data to ensure a safe, secure and effective nuclear deterrent.
In less than 30 minutes, the missile traveled 4,200 miles into the Pacific, right in Kim Jong Un’s neighborhood.
This comes just seven days after the first launch of an ICBM on April 26.
A U.S. military spokesperson denied that the test had anything to do with tensions with North Korea.
However, the 625th Strategic Operations Squadron commander, Lt. Col. Deane Konowicz, said in a statement following a successful simulated electronic firing on April 11,
“The Simulated Electronic Launch of a Minuteman III ICBM is a signal to the American people, our allies, and our adversaries that our ICBM capability is safe, secure, lethal and ready.”
The United States has 450 Minuteman III weapons sitting on alert near Maelstrom AFB, Mont.; Minot AFB, N.D. and F.E. Warren AFB, Wyoming. The Minuteman III nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile is one of the U.S. air-land-sea triad, which also includes the Ohio-class submarine and the B-52 strategic bomber.
The missile didn’t explode immediately after the launch like this North Korea missile or this failed missile launch by Pyongyang or this missile launch failure by the isolated regime.
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