The US military test-fired its second intercontinental ballistic missile in a week on Thursday night, seeking to demonstrate its nuclear arms capacity at a time of rising strategic tensions with Russi
The US military test-fired its second intercontinental ballistic missile in a week on Thursday night, seeking to demonstrate its nuclear arms capacity at a time of rising strategic tensions with Russia and North Korea.
The unarmed Minuteman III missile roared out of a silo at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California late at night, raced across the sky at speeds of up to 24,000 km per hour and landed a half hour later in a target area 6,500 km away near Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands of the South Pacific.
Deputy defence secretary Robert Work, who witnessed the launch, said the US tests, conducted at least 15 times since January 2011, send a message to strategic rivals like Russia, China and North Korea that Washington has an effective nuclear arsenal.
“That’s exactly why we do this,” Mr Work told reporters before the launch.
“We and the Russians and the Chinese routinely do test shots to prove that the operational missiles that we have are reliable. And that is a signal... that we are prepared to use nuclear weapons in defence of our country if necessary.”
Meanwhile, the United States introduced a draft UN Security Council resolution that it said will significantly increase pressure on North Korea in response to its latest nuclear test and rocket launch.
Ambassador Samantha Power said the draft, which for the first time would subject cargo ships leaving and entering North Korea to mandatory inspections, goes farther than previous sanctions and is meant to ensure North Korea will be held accountable for its actions.
