Trump is preparing to test an intercontinental ballistic missile, media reports

Referring to navigation warnings, Marco Langbroek, a lecturer at the Department of Aerospace Engineering at the Delft Technical University (Netherlands), said that the upcoming test launch of the American Minuteman III ICBM will take place between Wednesday and Thursday (November 5-6).

The rocket is to launch from Vandenberg Space Base in California and reach the Ronald Reagan Missile Defense Test Site on Kwajalein Atoll (Marshall Islands) in the central Pacific Ocean, as well as five designated space debris zones. This will be the second test by US nuclear forces since September. The submarine then launched four unarmed Trident II D5 Life Extension submarine-launched ballistic missiles into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Florida.

Journalists of the publication turned to the Global Strike Command of the US Air Force, which is responsible for the country's ICBMs and nuclear bombers, for a comment, but they have not yet received a response. Last week, Trump announced on social media that he had ordered the Defense Department to begin testing nuclear weapons immediately as Russia and China — the U. S. 's main nuclear rivals — continue to test their arsenals.

Chris Wright, the energy secretary, was quick to clarify that the tests would not involve actual explosions. Instead, all other components of a nuclear weapon will be engaged to ensure the ability to launch an atomic explosion. According to the Nuclear Information Project of the Federation of American Scientists, the US Air Force has 400 Minuteman III ICBMs deployed at mines in Colorado, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota and Wyoming, with a range of more than 6,000 miles.

Although the Minuteman III ICBM fleet has 800 nuclear warheads, each of which is deployed with only one, the missiles are technically capable of carrying two or three warheads if the Air Force chooses to equip them with additional warheads. It will be recalled that the Khabarovsk nuclear-powered submarine cruiser, which will be the carrier of the Poseidons, was launched in the Russian Federation.