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You can watch video of the most recent test, a little more than a month ago, of a Minuteman III. This is a short clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUg7x1zo
by justin66 2y ago
You can watch video of the most recent test, a little more than a month ago, of a Minuteman III. This is a short clip:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUg7x1zo7D0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUg7x1zo7D0
They can test the missiles and reentry vehicles, everything except the nuclear warhead. The closest those come to a test is a supercomputer simulation, since those tests are forbidden by treaty.
Minuteman III has an excellent but not perfect [0] failure rate. Some other older systems, like the UK's submarine launched Trident missiles... not so much.
[0] https://www.airandspaceforces.com/icbm-test-failure-nuclear-modernization/ https://www.airandspaceforces.com/icbm-test-failure-nuclear-...
- arethuza 2y agoTh UK Trident 2 missiles are literally the same missiles used by the US submarines operating in the Atlantic - both sets of submarines are supplied by a shared pool: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UGM-133_Trident_II https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UGM-133_Trident_II However, the warheads on the UK missiles are designed and manufactured by the UK.
- justin66 2y agoInteresting. Are recent US missile tests at sea as bad as the recent UK tests? I don’t remember seeing news to that effect.
- arethuza 2y agoI suspect that just indicates that it wasn't just the missiles that were causing the failures...
- justin66 2y agoI had the same thought. They lovingly take Minutemen out of their silos and launch them after reassembly from Vandenburg AFB or someplace for a test. I’m pretty sure trident tests happen at sea.