The U.S. Air Force on Wednesday announced the successful flight test of an unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), which are managed by Boeing in North Alabama.
The test was conducted early that morning at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The ICBM was equipped with a test reentry vehicle. The Minuteman III is the land-based prong of the nuclear triad.
According to the Air Force, “The test demonstrates that the United States’ nuclear deterrent is robust, flexible, ready and appropriately tailored to deter twenty-first century threats and reassure our allies. Test launches are not a response or reaction to world events or regional tensions.”
Boeing has supported every Minuteman flight test in the last 58 years. The program is managed out of Huntsville, but the missiles were built in the 1970’s in Utah with Boeing working diligently to keep it safe, secure and reliable.The Minuteman III is as fast as a seismic wave, traveling up to four miles per second and up to 15,000 miles per hour.
You can view video from Wednesday’s test here.
Additionally, Boeing the same day announced that the company and the U.S. Air Force have definitized a $122.9 million contract to upgrade the Minuteman III coding system, bringing even more work to Huntsville.
This upgrade will provide remote, over-the-air rekey and code change capability for the important missile system.
Boeing outlined that some development and assembly work will be performed in Huntsville at Boeing’s Electronics Center of Excellence, which recently underwent a 28,000 square-foot expansion. The contract will provide the government with the components needed to support the deployment of the ICU II hardware through 2022 — sustaining the Minuteman III weapon system until 2036.
In addition to Huntsville, some of the work for the ICU II upgrade is being done in Utah and California.
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Sean Ross is the editor of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn
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