A joint team of Air Force Global Strike Command Airmen launched an unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile equipped with a Mark-21 High Fidelity Re-Entry Vehicle on Wednesday, May 21, 2025 from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California.
WATCH THE MISSILE LAUNCH:
Airmen from all three missile wings were selected for the task force to support the test launch, while maintainers from the 90th Missile Wing at F.E. Warren Force Base, Wyoming, and the 341st Missile Wing from Malmstrom Air Force Base, Montana, supported maintenance requirements. The missile bases within Air Fore Global Strike Command have crew members standing alert 24 hours a day, year-round, overseeing the nation’s ICBM alert forces.
A spokesperson for Malmstrom AFB said in a news release that the launch involved an operational Minuteman III selected from Malmstrom that was transported to Vandenberg SFB earlier this year.
Personnel from the 341st Missile Wing - including missile maintenance technicians from the 341st Maintenance Group and Missile Combat Crew launch officers from the 341st Operations Group - participated in the preparation and launch of the missile.
The 341st Missile Wing is responsible for 150 launch facilities – the unmanned silos where missiles are located; and 15 missile alert facilities – where military personnel monitor and operate the system.
They’re spread across a 13,800-square-mile missile field that covers parts of eight counties: Cascade, Chouteau, Fergus, Judith Basin, Lewis & Clark, Meagher, Teton, and Wheatland.
The U.S. Air Force said in a news release that the test launch is part of "routine and periodic activities designed to demonstrate that the United States' nuclear deterrent remains safe, secure, reliable and effective in deterring 21st-century threats and reassuring our allies."
With more than 300 similar tests conducted in the past, this test is "part of the Nation’s ongoing commitment to maintaining a credible deterrent and is not a response to current world events."
"This ICBM test launch underscores the strength of the nation's nuclear deterrent and the readiness of the ICBM leg of the triad,” said Gen. Thomas Bussiere, commander of Air Force Global Strike Command. “This powerful safeguard is maintained by dedicated Airmen – missileers, defenders, helicopter operators and the teams who supports them – who ensure the security of the nation and its allies.”
