The US will launch an ICBM across the Pacific - and no, it has nothing to do with Trump's new nuclear testing plans

"The unarmed Minuteman III ICBM test is a routine way for the US Air Force to verify the missile is ready and accurate, especially as the service continues to rely on the 50-year-old system - as its replacement is delayed and over budget. US Air Force Global Strike Command said the missile would launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California between 11:01 pm Tuesday and 5:01 am Pacific time Wednesday."

"Minuteman III tests like these are scheduled years in advance. But the Air Force currently only has them planned out to 2030, according to the US Government Accountability Office, and is still working on a post-2030 operational test launch plan. Part of the challenge for scheduling future testing is the timeline for sustaining Minuteman III missiles and developing and fielding their replacements, the Sentinel ICBM."

"Sentinel was supposed to replace all 450 Minuteman IIIs starting later this decade at an estimated cost of $78 billion. That timeline has now been pushed back to sometime in the 2030s - and the cost has ballooned to over $140 billion. The Pentagon has attributed this to an unrealistic delivery schedule, engineering and system design problems, an atrophied industrial base, and organizational issues within the Air Force, per the GAO."

An unarmed Minuteman III ICBM will launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base across the Pacific during a scheduled test window to verify readiness and accuracy. The previous test in May traveled over 4,200 miles to a target in the Marshall Islands. Minuteman III tests are scheduled years in advance but are currently only planned through 2030, and a post-2030 operational test plan is pending. The Sentinel ICBM replacement program was delayed from later this decade to the 2030s while estimated costs rose from $78 billion to over $140 billion. Causes include unrealistic schedules, engineering and design problems, an atrophied industrial base, and Air Force organizational issues. The Air Force expects to maintain Minuteman III into the 2050s.

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