On November 7, an intercontinental ballistic missile Minuteman III was launched from Vandenberg base in California. The product of the US military industry, according to the US Air Force, successfully hit the target in the Pacific. According to information spread by the US military, the purpose of the tests was to test the accuracy and reliability of the rocket systems, and they "are not associated with any real world events."

This is the fourth test of the Minuteman III rocket this year. The previous ones were held in April, May and July. The last time the missile’s combat test failed, and it had to be blown up during the flight.

"Old Men" in the mines

The Minuteman III rockets were adopted by the US Air Force in 1970. Currently, it is the only type of land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles in the United States.

400 missiles are located in mines throughout the United States and, according to the US Nuclear Doctrine (Nuclear Posture Review) published in February of this year, are considered by the command as the most operational part of the nuclear triad. In the event of a nuclear war, their calculations should have the least problems with communications with the command.

During the Cold War, Minuteman III was specially designed to enable them to reach the most remote parts of the Soviet Union from the United States, including the regions of Central Asia. Flight range - 13 thousand km. Initially, the missiles carried three warheads with a capacity of 300 kilotons each, but in 2014 they were replaced with one.

Minuteman III is one of the oldest intercontinental ballistic missiles that are in service with countries today. In August 2018, the Pentagon celebrated the 50th anniversary of the first test launch of this rocket.

Given that their production was discontinued back in 1977, now the arsenal of US ground intercontinental ballistic missiles is over 40 years old. During this time, the rocket went through numerous upgrades, because initially they were designed for a service life of 10 years.

  • Minuteman III in the mine
  • AFP
  • © HO / US AIR FORCE

They changed everything from navigation and control devices to engine components. Naturally, every new change required checks and tests. Because of this, and also because of the need to constantly monitor the state of aging missiles, such tests have become a routine for the US Air Force.

“These tests are carried out in order to determine how long this rocket will be able to serve,” said Alexey Leonkov, a military expert and editor of the Arsenal of Fatherland magazine, in an interview with RT.

Prospects for modernization

US nuclear doctrine provides that the Minuteman III will be in service with the Pentagon for more than 10 years, until 2030. However, today the question of replacing them with new weapons has become acute. The US Department of Defense recognizes that air defense and missile defense systems of probable adversaries pose a serious threat to the “old men”.

“By that time (by 2030. - RT ), the life of Minuteman III ballistic missiles will reach sixty years, they will be the oldest in the world, and its further extension will be impossible. In addition, these missiles will lose the ability to overcome new systems (antimissile. - RT ) of the enemy defense, ”the Pentagon’s strategic document notes.

The administration of Donald Trump spoke in favor of replacing the obsolete Minuteman III with new ground-based intercontinental ballistic missiles. However, the project is still under development.

  • Design of a new intercontinental ballistic missile ground-based from Boeing
  • © boeing.com

In August 2017, the US Air Force ordered Boeing and Northrop Grumman to submit prototypes of new missiles by the fall of 2020. Both defense giants were allocated $ 350 million for these purposes.

However, as The Military notes, the victory of Trump's opponents from the US Democratic Party in the midterm elections to the lower house of congress could significantly slow down the pace of the creation of the new rocket.

Thus, according to the publication, the most likely future chairman of the House Committee of Representatives on Armed Forces, Congressman Adam Smith, believes that the US has more nuclear weapons than necessary, and the country spends too much money on it.

“A fragile consensus in favor of allocating additional funds to improve the US nuclear arsenal has so far been maintained between the two parties. At least that was the case with Barack Obama. However, Trump's nuclear doctrine and the results of yesterday’s elections put the fate of this consensus at risk, ”said Kingston Reif, Director of Disarmament Policy and Threat Reduction at Arms Control Association, at The Military.

In turn, the head of the department of political science and sociology of the PRUE. G.V. Andrei Koshkin Plekhanov, in a conversation with RT, noted that Democrats are unlikely to stop the process of modernizing US strategic nuclear forces.

"They may, and will insert Trump into the wheels, but this does not mean that they will not promote the concept of strategic nuclear superiority," the expert believes.

Rocket Park

Experts say that while testing the Minuteman III missiles does not pose a serious threat to Russia. The domestic atomic arsenal is much more powerful and newer than its American counterparts, especially when it comes to land-based missiles.

The Russian ground-based intercontinental ballistic missile of the land-based P-36M2 "Voevod" is considered the most deadly intercontinental missile in the world (10 war blocks of 750 kt each). It surpasses the Minuteman III in range, as it is capable of hitting targets at a distance of 16 thousand km.

  • Intercontinental ballistic missile "Voyevoda"
  • RIA News
  • © Ministry of Defense of Russia

Another rocket similar to the Minuteman III is the UR-100N, with a range of 10,000 km, and is also superior in power to an American (up to 1 mt). In addition, Russia, in contrast to the United States, also has mobile complexes carrying Topol-M and Yars missiles. All of them are newer than American counterparts.

“The average age of the“ Governor ”is 25 years old, she is newer than Minuteman III, if we talk about Topol and Yars, then they have an average age of 10–12 years. In general, our rocket fleet is newer than that of the Americans, ”noted Leonkov.

In addition, the expert said, the only truly new American intercontinental ballistic missile is the Sea-based Trident II (D5), which entered service in the 1990s. Similar Russian R-29 “Sinev” and R-30 “Bulava” were released in the 2000s.

The expert also noted that while in the United States they are only developing a design to replace the Minuteman III, successful tests of the Sarmat rocket are already under way in Russia.

“We are launching the RS-28 Sarmat missile, which will replace Voivod and surpasses it in its characteristics,” said Leonkov. “The peculiarity of the RS-28 is that its warheads fly according to the technology of controlled hypersound, that is, it is impossible to intercept them with air defense systems.”

Political signal

According to Andrei Koshkin, the tests of the American intercontinental ballistic missile also have political overtones.

"Most likely, this is due to the contradictions in relations between the US, Russia and China," - said Koshkin.

According to the expert, the US withdrawal from the 1987 Treaty on the Elimination of Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles increases international tension. In these circumstances, Washington seeks "to show that the United States has gunpowder in the old dog flashes and they are ready for anything, including the use of nuclear weapons."

An additional factor forcing the US to demonstrate strength is the awareness of its lag behind Russia in the nuclear-missile field. In July, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported on successful tests of the Dagger, Sarmat and Avangard missile systems, the Poseidon naval system, the Burevestnik cruise missile and the Peresvet laser complex. Earlier in the March message to the Federal Assembly, this technique was presented by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“It is possible that the United States is trying to make an effect by launching Minuteman III to show that, despite the lack of advanced weapons, their potential is still very large,” Koshkin notes.

At the same time, according to the expert, in the near future the States will not be able to compare with our country.

“Many nuclear powers, including the United States, are lagging behind us. Especially in hypersound format. There are no equals to Russia in this area yet, ”the political scientist asserts.