As stated in a Vandenberg press release, the command to launch the American analogue of the Russian Topol was transmitted using the TACAMO secure communication channel system. At the same time, it is pointed out that the Minuteman-III did not contain a warhead and that the tests themselves were supposed to demonstrate that the American nuclear forces were in full readiness.
The Minuteman-III has been in service with the US Army since 1970 and has been updated several times. This ICBM acts as an element of the US strategic deterrent force, which is controlled by the country’s Air Force Global Strike Command. Its weight is 36 tons, the flight range is more than 9.5 thousand kilometers. The rocket runs on solid fuel and develops a speed of more than 24,000 kilometers per hour. In total, the US armed forces are armed with more than 450 units of these ICBMs, on which about 550 nuclear warheads are installed.
What makes the Minuteman-III unique is that it is the only siled missile in the US military’s arsenal, which relies heavily on underwater missile carriers and airborne nuclear weapons.
Washington has tested the Minuteman-III more than 300 times, with the last launch in August 2022.
Nevertheless, despite regular testing, the Pentagon announced in 2021 that it was impossible to extend the life of the ICBM Minuteman III, in service since 1970, indefinitely.
The US military went from rhetoric to action last Tuesday, when the US Department of Defense requested $4.4 billion to replace the Minuteman-III with the new Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missiles, which are considered the most of the American nuclear triad, made up of land, sea and air components. Minuteman III missiles will be completely replaced by Sentinel missiles by the mid-2030s, the Vandenberg news service said.
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