Air Force Space Command launched an unarmed Minuteman III ICBM from Vandenberg AFB, Calif., last week to test the Minuteman’s acceptance of a newer warhead, the Mark 21 from the now-decommissioned Peacekeeper ICBMs. The dummy re-entry vehicle traveled 4,800 miles, striking its target at the Kwajalein Missile Range in the Marshall Islands.
The Air Force plans to conduct more intensive training—and Congress is set to help by boosting funding for exercises and so-called “campaigning” by hundreds of millions of dollars, particularly in the Pacific.
