
The U.S. Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC) launched an unarmed Boeing [BA] LGM-30 Minuteman III ICBM with a test re-entry vehicle on Aug. 16 from Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif., "to demonstrate the readiness of U.S. nuclear forces and provide confidence in the lethality and effectiveness of the nation’s nuclear deterrent," AFGSC said. The Department of the Air Force has had more than 300 such previous test launches, and the Aug. 16 test "is not the result of current…