US Test-fires Unarmed Nuclear-capable Minuteman 3 Missile

Associated Press

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (February 5, 2020) — An unarmed Minuteman 3 intercontinental ballistic missile was launched from California early Wednesday on a test flight to a target in the Pacific Ocean, the Air Force Global Strike Command said.

The missile blasted off at 12:33 a.m. from Vandenberg Air Force Base and its reentry vehicle traveled 4,200 miles (6,759 kilometers) to the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands as part of a developmental test, the command said from Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana.

Developmental tests use a spare missile from storage to validate flight worthiness of new or replacement components. That differs from test launches that use randomly selected operational missiles.

Modernization programs are essential to sustaining the aging Minuteman 3 weapon system, Col. Omar Colbert, the 576th Flight Test Squadron commander, said in a statement.

The launch was conducted by airmen from the 341st Missile Wing at Malmstrom Air Force Base, Montana, the 90th Missile Wing at F.E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyoming, and the 91st Missile Wing at Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota.

Vandenberg’s 30th Space Wing, now a part of the new US Space Force, provided support.

The Air Force said test launches are not a reaction to world events. The launch calendars are developed three to five years in advance, and planning for individual launches takes six months to a year.

Russia’s Strategic Missile Force Employs Yars ICBMs in Large-scale Drills in Siberia

TASS

MOSCOW (February 6, 2020) — Over 2,500 troops are involved in a tactical exercise with Yars mobile intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) systems of the Novosibirsk missile formation, Russia’s Defense Ministry reported on Thursday.

“As part of the tactical drills, the Yars road-mobile missile systems went on combat patrol routes. Special attention is paid to countering an air attack and repelling subversive and reconnaissance groups,” the ministry’s press office said in a statement.

During the drills, the missile troops will perform a march to a distance of up to 100 km and practice the tasks of equipping and camouflaging field positions.

Overall, the drills involve more than 300 items of military hardware, including such latest models as the Listva remote-controlled mine-clearing vehicle, the Taifun-M combat anti-saboteur vehicle, a wheeled road vehicle and the ARS-14KM decontamination and degassing station.

The RS-24 Yars is a Russian strategic missile system comprising a mobile or silo-based solid-propellant intercontinental ballistic missile with MIRVed (multiple independently targetable vehicle) warheads. The ICBM was developed by the Moscow Institute of Thermal Technology under the supervision of Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Yuri Solomonov. The Yars is a modification of the Topol-M missile system.

Russian Official: Impossible to Intercept Yars Missile with Existing Systems

TASS

MOSCOW (November 29, 2019) — Russia’s Yars intercontinental ballistic missiles of the 5th generation cannot be intercepted by existing missiles defense systems, Commander of the Russian Strategic Missile Forces Sergey Karakaev told the Krasnaya Zvezda (Red Star) newspaper.

“This missile embodies the latest achievements in science and technology. It will suffice to say that it uses new technical solutions that allow not just to significantly complicate, but also make it physically impossible to intercept this missile with any missile defense system,” Karakaev said.

He added that the Yars missile system supersedes the Topol system on several parameters. “The constructive features of Yars allow to launch these missiles even from platforms, on which Topol could operate only after special engineering works,” he noted. Karakev said that this allows to use more territories for military patroling and launch missiles from any place.

The RS-24 Yars is a Russian strategic missile system comprising a mobile or silo-based solid-propellant intercontinental ballistic missile with MIRVed (multiple independently targetable vehicle) warheads. the ICBM was developed by the Moscow Institute of Thermal Technology under the supervision of Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Yury Solomonov. The Yars is a modification of the Topol-M missile system.

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