An unarmed Minuteman III ballistic missile is launched from Vandenberg Space Base on Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2025. U.S. Air Force Global Strike Command said the missile flew 4,200 miles southwest across the Pacific to a test site at Kwajalein Atoll in the eastern Pacific Ocean. (Draeke Layman/U.S. Space Force)

The Air Force said it successfully launched an unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile from Vandenberg Space Force Base early Wednesday, part of regular testing of the land-based missiles designed to carry nuclear warheads.

The launch from the Western Test Range at the base near Lompoc on the central California coast was a continuation of routine testing of U.S. ICBMs randomly selected from existing weapons stockpiles.

The Minuteman III’s unarmed reentry vehicle flight terminated about 4,200 miles southwest at the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command’s Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site at the Kwajalein Atoll in the Republic of the Marshall Islands.

“It’s a comprehensive assessment to verify and validate the ICBM system’s ability to perform its critical mission,” said Lt. Col. Karrie Wray, commander of the 576th Flight Test Squadron.

As of late 2024, the United States maintained about 400 deployed Minuteman III ICBMs in underground silos in the northern tier of states. Silos and command centers are located in Montana, North Dakota, Wyoming, Nebraska and Colorado, according to the nonpartisan Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation.

In 2015, the Air Force announced completion of a $7 billion program to extend the life of the Minuteman III into the 2030s. Pentagon officials have said it may be possible to extend the life of the Minuteman III to as late as 2050.

The land-based missiles are part of the U.S. nuclear triad, which also includes Trident II D5 nuclear-tipped missiles carried by the U.S. Navy’s 14 Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines at sea, and nuclear weapons-carrying manned B-2 Spirit and B-52 Stratofortress bombers of the U.S. Air Force.

The launch was initiated by an Air Force team from the 625th Strategic Operations Squadron aboard a U.S. Navy E-6B Mercury aircraft using the Airborne Launch Control System. The airborne system is a “backup command and control system of the ICBM force,” the Air Force said.

“This test, designated GT 254, evaluated the ongoing reliability, operational readiness, and accuracy of the ICBM system, a cornerstone of America’s national defense,” Air Force Global Strike Command said in a statement from its headquarters at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana.

The Reagan Test Site is equipped with telemetry, metric and signature sensors to collect data during the final phase of the missile’s flight, the Air Force said.

“This test validated the reliability, adaptability and modularity of the weapon system,” said Col. Dustin Harmon, 377th Test and Evaluation Group commander, the unit that oversaw the launch preparations. Missile maintainers from the 90th Missile Wing at F.E. Warren AFB in Wyoming provided support.

The Western Test Range at Vandenberg SFB serves as the testing ground for this critical effort. This launch is part of a series of routine and periodic activities crucial to assessing and validating the Minuteman III’s capabilities. These tests, conducted with stringent safety protocols, allow AFGSC to collect data.

An illustration of the LGM-35A Sentinel ballistic missile. (U.S. Air Force)

The U.S. plans to phase out the Minuteman III beginning in 2029 with the expected deployment of the new $141 billion LGM-35A Sentinel ballistic missile system.

When armed, each Minuteman III carries a single nuclear warhead, with an estimated atomic yield equivalent to more than 300 kilotons of TNT, more than 20 times the estimated yield of the 15-kiloton bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, during World War II.

“As we modernize to the Sentinel weapon system, we must continue to maintain the readiness of the existing Minuteman III fleet,” said Gen. S.L. Davis, commander of Air Force Global Strike Command.

The U.S. currently plans to spend $1.4 trillion to modernize all three legs of the nuclear triad — land, sea and air — with new weapons systems.

An artist’s 2019 rendering of a future Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine. (U.S. Navy)

In addition to the Sentinel ICBM, the Navy is awaiting delivery of the USS District of Columbia, the first of a new class of ballistic missile submarines.

The first boat of the $358 billion Columbia class of 12 boats is expected to be delivered in 2029, more than a year behind schedule, according to congressional estimates.

The Air Force has received the first two B-21 Raider strategic bombers, which are undergoing flight tests at Edwards Air Force Base in California. The program calls for 100 of the stealth bombers, with a total cost projected at $203 billion, according to congressional estimates.

A second B-21 Raider test aircraft takes off Sept. 11, 2025, from Palmdale, Calif., to join the Air Force’s flight test campaign at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. The addition of the second B-21 accelerates that, Air Force Secretary Troy Meink said on X. (U.S. Air Force)