Unarmed Minuteman III missile test scheduled from Vandenberg SFB early Wednesday

VANDENBERG SPACE FORCE BASE, Calif. (KEYT) – An unarmed, intercontinental ballistic missile test is scheduled from Vandenberg SFB between 12:01 a.m. and 6:01 a.m. Pacific Time on Wednesday, May 20.

The routine test, designated GT 256, of the Minuteman III is to ensure its operational availability and was scheduled years in advance shared Air Force Global Strike Command in a press release.

The Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) weapon system has been in service in the United State's nuclear arsenal since the late 1970s and is one of hundreds of Minuteman III missiles that make up the nation's ground-based nuclear deterrence infrastructure as part of a trio of launch platforms that, "underwrites every U.S. military operation on the globe—it is the backstop and foundation of our national defense and that of our allies," detailed the U.S. Air Force's Nuclear Weapons Center.

The last test launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base was in early March of this year.

As with prior Minuteman III test launches, the missile will be equipped with a telemetry package as it travels about 4,200 miles to the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command's Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site at the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands confirmed the Air Force's Global Strike Command.

While these tests confirm the viability of launching the aging system, Your News Channel reported last year that Vandenberg Space Force Base was beginning the process to replace the Minuteman III platform with the new Northrup Grumman-developed LGM-35A Sentinel.