Wire: US Air Force Test Fires Missile From Calif. Coast

Off the Wire:

WASHINGTON, Aug. 23, 2009 -- Newswire services this afternoon reported that the Air Force says it has successfully launched an unarmed Minuteman 3 intercontinental ballistic missile from a California base, firing it to targets in the Pacific Ocean.

The Associated Press reported that Sgt. Benjamin Rojek said the ICBM was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base at 9:01 a.m. Sunday. He said it carried one unarmed re-entry vehicle that hit its target near the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands, some 4,200 miles away.

The Air Force said the launch was an operational test to check the weapon system's reliability and accuracy.

Test data will be used by United States Strategic Command planners and Department of Energy laboratories, AP said.

(Report from newswire sources.)

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