Alwaght-The US has test-fired a nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile from a site in California capable of hitting North Korea amid tensions between the two countries.
The unarmed Minuteman 3 missile has a range of around 8,000 miles, putting it within striking distance of Pyongyang. The test of the Minuteman III missile follows a similar launch on April 26 from North Vandenberg Air Force Base. The move comes amid rapidly growing tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
It blasted off just after Tuesday midnight from Vandenberg Air Force Base, 150 miles northwest of Los Angeles, and delivered a single projectile to a target approximately 4,200 miles away at Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific Ocean, US Air Force Global Strike Command said.
Colonel Chris Moss, Vandenberg’s 30th Space Wing commander, said of the first test launch that it was “an important demonstration of our nation's nuclear deterrent capabilities”.
Pyongyang insists that developing its military defenses including nuclear weapons is important to counter incessant provocations by the US including a possible aggression.
Over 28,500 US troops, sailors, airmen and marines in South Korea and now an armada of warships and submarines are a major source of tensions in the Korean Peninsula region and a pointer to Washington’s policy of provoking other countries in the region especially North Korea.
