6/23/04 An unarmed Minuteman 3 missile signaled its departure early this morning from Vandenberg Air Force Base with a long and loud rumble.
The weapon blasted out of an underground silo on north Vandenberg at 1:32 a.m.
Vandenberg officials said the weapon's dummy warhead was successfully delivered to a pre-determined target in the Kwajalein Missile Range, about 4,200 miles southwest of the Central Coast.
The blastoff is part of an Air Force program to test the reliability and accuracy of the weapon system.
Some 500 nuclear-tipped Minuteman 3 missiles dot the underground of Wyoming, Montana and North Dakota.
"The nation's ICBMs are a key component of global stability - a safe, secure and affordable weapon system that delivers deterrence," the Air Force said in a written statement.
Today's test involved Vandenberg's 576th Flight Test Squadron and the 30th Space Wing along with a task force from the 341st Space Wing at Malmstrom Air Force Base, Mont.
Minuteman 3 missiles are three-stage weapons that can travel some 6,000 miles. The weapon first went on alert in 1970, but has undergone several upgrades to extend the life of the system. Initially designed to carry three independently targeted warheads, the weapon was reconfigured so that just one sits in the nosecone.
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