Ballistic Missile Test Launch Set For Wednesday At Vandenberg
NEAR LOMPOC (CBSLA.com) – An intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) will be test launched in the early morning hours Wednesday from Vandenberg Air Force Base.
The Minuteman III launch by U.S. Air Force Global Strike Command is scheduled to take place between midnight and 6 a.m. Wednesday, according to a news release from Vandenberg.
This latest launch comes less than a week after North Korea tested its second-ever ICBM, which military experts said has the potential to reach Los Angeles.
Vandenberg has done several Minuteman test launches in the past, the latest coming on April 26 and May 3. Those two missiles traveled about 4,200 miles to the Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific Ocean's Marshall Islands.
The Minuteman III ICBM launch is designed to "validate and verify the effectiveness, readiness, and accuracy of the weapon system."
It is one of three legs of the nuclear triad, along with strategic bombers and submarine-launched ballistic missiles.