SpaceWar.com reports: “The U.S. Air Force demonstrated the nation’s nuclear readiness by launching an unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California early Wednesday morning.

The test launch occurred shortly after Russia test-launched its Yars ICBM missile, and the Minuteman III completed a 4,200-mile course in about 22 minutes at a speed of 15,000 mph and splashed down at a test range near the Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific Ocean, the Daily Mail reported.

‘Today’s Minuteman III test launch is just one of the ways the Department of the Air Force demonstrates the readiness, precision and professionalism of U.S. nuclear forces,’ Acting Secretary of the Air Force Gary Ashworth said in an online announcement.

‘It also provides confidence in the lethality and effectiveness of the nation’s nuclear deterrence mission,’ Ashworth said…”