U.S. Successfully Conducts Minuteman III ICBM Test Amid Strategic Tensions

In the early morning hours of May 21, 2025, the United States Air Force successfully launched an unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The routine test, formally designated as Glory Trip GT-253, demonstrates the operational readiness, reliability, and effectiveness of the nation's aging but still critical nuclear deterrent force.

The missile carried a single unarmed Mk21 reentry vehicle, which traveled approximately 4,200 miles across the Pacific Ocean before accurately striking its target at the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site in the Kwajalein Atoll of the Marshall Islands. . .