The launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile, the United States Air Force’s Minuteman 3 (ICBM), was described by the Joe Biden administration as a routine test unrelated to current world events. But the training, which will be held on Tuesday night (16), sounds like a message: the country is ready for the use of nuclear weapons.
At least that’s the thesis that has prevailed for Russia, an ally of China, which, according to a report in Folha de S. Paulo, accused Washington of deliberately provoking the Chinese government. The test had already been postponed to avoid tensions with the Chinese government following Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan.
On the other hand, the US Air Force said in an official statement that other unarmed missile tests have taken place hundreds of times before and serve to inspire confidence in the lethality and effectiveness of the country’s nuclear deterrent.
“This test launch is part of routine and regular activities designed to demonstrate that the United States’ nuclear deterrent is safe, reliable and effective in deterring 21st century threats and reassuring our allies,” the U.S. statement said.
But after all, what is the true firepower of the rocket?
The rocket was launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California around 12:49 a.m. Tuesday and traveled almost 7,000 kilometers across the Pacific to Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands.
Overall, however, a Minuteman 3 rocket has a range of more than 9,500 kilometers at a speed of up to 24,000 km/h.
Missiles of this class have three engines, a solid rocket engine and can carry up to three nuclear warheads, capable of hitting different targets simultaneously and miles apart.
It can carry up to three payloads, but carries a single nuclear warhead, which respects arms control agreements between the United States and Russia.
The missiles may be equipped with an RV Mark 21 with penetrating aids and a 300475 nuclear kiloton (kT) warhead, giving the target high destructive power.
According to AsapScience, when a 300kiloton nuclear bomb hits its target, people in the center of the blast (up to 800 meters from the missile site) can be killed instantly, while others can suffer thirddegree burns even from kilometers away. .
In addition to the incalculable number of endangered human lives, he is able to destroy entire cities.
Intercontinental
According to US Air Force officials, the Minuteman is a strategic weapon system using an intercontinentalrange ballistic missile.
Housed in reinforced silos to protect against attack, these missiles are linked to an underground launch control center via a reinforced cable system.
The launch team consists of two military personnel and modern communication systems that allow direct contact between the team and the US President and Secretary of Defense.
Thus, when command capability is lost between the launch control center and remote missile launch facilities, air launch control center aircraft specially trained for the mission take command and control of the missile on orders from the President.
Almost 60 years have passed since the first version of Minuteman. Today there are 400 units of Minuteman 3 distributed at the country’s air bases.
Sarmat, a worthy competitor
The power of the United States’ ICBMs finds serious competition in Russia’s nuclear arsenal. It is known that of the nearly 14,000 nuclear warheads in the world, at least 90% are owned by the US and Russia.
In April this year, amid tensions with the West over the invasion of Ukraine, Russia also announced tests of a nuclearcapable ICBM: the Sarmat.
At that time, the rocket was launched from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome, a military base in the northwest of the country. According to a statement by Vladimir Putin, the missile flew more than 5,400 kilometers to the Kamchatka Peninsula in far eastern Russia. The distance traveled by the rocket would be able to reach any country in Western Europe.
It weighs over 200 tons and can carry 10 to 15 nuclear warheads. It is also super powerful because it has an autonomous navigation system that allows it to fly 18,000 kilometers.
That means this deadly machine is capable of traversing entire continents without being stopped by an existing missile defense shield.
“Sarmat is the most powerful missile with the longest range in the world to hit targets, which will significantly increase the combat effectiveness of our country’s strategic nuclear forces,” the Russian Defense Ministry said.