US Fires ICBM Into Pacific

www.cnn.com...

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, California (AP) -- The Air Force launched an unarmed intercontinental ballistic missile early Wednesday, officials said, in a test flight that blasted open a 105-ton silo door for the first time in years.

The Minuteman 3 missile's dummy warhead traveled about 4,200 miles in about 20 minutes, hitting a target at the Kwajalein Atoll in the western chain of the Marshall Islands.

The launch at 12:14 a.m. from the Central Coast base marked the first time in years that the Air Force conducted a closed-door missile test. In previous launches, the 576th Flight Test Squadron performed the tests with the concrete door open to cut costs.

...

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Perhaps we're doing this in response to put pressure on Iran and NK?




[edit: shortened quote and added necessary EX tags]
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[edit on 7-2-2007 by 12m8keall2c]

Yep, maybe they are doing this to remember North Korea that American missiles do not crash after less than half of their expected range

Great response!

I think we're just practicing and flexing our muscle for any upcoming event...

I read this article and lost it. Here's the scary part. That missle flies at 12600MPH, that is 210MPH a minute. That is what we know about the government, what speeds on rocket propelled projectiles are they keeping from us?

Hum if I remember well the Minutemen is quite an old ballistic missile

But I'll keep myself to say that they:

-go fast enough
-go faster than the North Korean ones
-don't crash

At the same time, with the end of the Cold War, I think the US has been redirecting their research toward different fields of research than ICBMs

Originally posted by AlphaAnuOmega
I read this article and lost it. Here's the scary part. That missle flies at 12600MPH, that is 210MPH a minute. That is what we know about the government, what speeds on rocket propelled projectiles are they keeping from us?

Sorry, Don't mean to be pedantic but;

4,200 miles in 20 mins = 21,000 Mph or mach 31.82

21,000 Mph = 350 miles per minute

The AIM 9x Sidewinder missile travels at Mach 2.5 or 1650 mph

AAAAhhhh, you might say!

The difference is an ICBM leaves the earths atmosphere, there it gains phenominal speeds and re-enters earth's atmosphere, thats why ICBM's are so difficult to shoot down plus the fact they pretty much come straight down onto their target.

Sorry for that boring tidbit of info I was just a bit bored

My bad, forgot to carry the one!

Originally posted by Jimmy1880

Sorry, Don't mean to be pedantic but;

4,200 miles in 20 mins = 21,000 Mph or mach 31.82

I don't mean to be pedantic either but;

4,200 miles in 20 mins = 12,600 MPH or about mach 16. I think you made the mistake of calculating 100 minutes in an hour.

Originally posted by mythatsabigprobe

Originally posted by Jimmy1880

Sorry, Don't mean to be pedantic but;

4,200 miles in 20 mins = 21,000 Mph or mach 31.82

I don't mean to be pedantic either but;

4,200 miles in 20 mins = 12,600 MPH or about mach 16. I think you made the mistake of calculating 100 minutes in an hour.

HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA

WHOOPSY!

And I'm trusted with a rifle

Even the great make mistakes

yes I did put 100 mins into an hour but on my planet there are

hehe

[edit on 7/2/07 by Jimmy1880]

Awww,how cute.
A game of mines bigger than yours.

Hey, don't roll your eyes like that!

It's with guys like this that we finally get to the truth!

Hey guys,

Whats said in a thread, stays in a thread. Right?

Keep my boobie hush hush and I'll give you all an Atomic gobstopper at recess

In 1975 I went into the USAF ,also the F-15 entered service in the USAF ,also the Minuteman Missile III entered service in the USAF .lol, I think by 1980 pretty much anyone that cared, new the performance of these 2 weapon systems of the USAF .I'am old .lol ,and so are they. Thats why you say (ha) If there that old what must they have ready to go ,ya no .

www.nps.gov...

Is 4,200 miles enough to strike from anywhere in the US to anywhere in Russia or China? Just to know, thanks.

And by the way, Russia will develop new ICBMs, nuclear submarines and aircraft carriers in order to counter the US.

[edit on 7-2-2007 by Vitchilo]

I don't think it's meant to send any kind of message, there are much better ways of doing that. Why not use something that is state of the art?

Nope, this is probably just to make sure the thing still works. It was put into service in the early 80's? It sounds like it's time to make sure that rats haven't eaten through the fusing cables.

I kind of feel that this was a toes in the water so to speak, to cold you pull out, if the water is nice you can swim. I wonder how many other nations were notified? Not many I think, they wanted to see who noticed more over who still has the radar and technology to notice. Just think what would have happened in the cold war, Russia most certainly would have noticed as soon as it lifted off. And if nobody notices one (keep in mind the number of warheads in one missile), you could probably get away with 5, easily enough to take out alot of targets in alot of countries.

Originally posted by Vitchilo
Is 4,200 miles enough to strike from anywhere in the US to anywhere in Russia or China? Just to know, thanks.

And by the way, Russia will develop new ICBMs, nuclear submarines and aircraft carriers in order to counter the US.

[edit on 7-2-2007 by Vitchilo]

As if. Russia would love to develope anything if it had a couple of bucks. Just my $0.02

As if. Russia would love to develope anything if it had a couple of bucks. Just my $0.02

Well they have, but not as much as the US, for now. Their military budget is 31 billions in 2005, it was still 20 times below the american one... but IMO, the military budget is stupid, it would be better to spend that money for the population instead on spending it for killing.

Originally posted by Vitchilo

Well they have, but not as much as the US, for now. Their military budget is 31 billions in 2005, it was still 20 times below the american one... but IMO, the military budget is stupid, it would be better to spend that money for the population instead on spending it for killing.

you wont be saying that when someone threatens the US. Just my 0.02..

Originally posted by el_madmaster
www.cnn.com...

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, California (AP) -- The Air Force launched an unarmed intercontinental ballistic missile early Wednesday, officials said, in a test flight that blasted open a 105-ton silo door for the first time in years.

The Minuteman 3 missile's dummy warhead traveled about 4,200 miles in about 20 minutes, hitting a target at the Kwajalein Atoll in the western chain of the Marshall Islands.

The launch at 12:14 a.m. from the Central Coast base marked the first time in years that the Air Force conducted a closed-door missile test. In previous launches, the 576th Flight Test Squadron performed the tests with the concrete door open to cut costs.

...

**********************************************

Perhaps we're doing this in response to put pressure on Iran and NK?




[edit: shortened quote and added necessary EX tags]
Mod Edit: New External Source Tags – Please Review This Link.

[edit on 7-2-2007 by 12m8keall2c]

-- (for some reason my mac doesn't display correct times and dates when i'm here at ats, so i apologize if this is out of context)

could it be flexing back at the chinese for the 'smoking' of the recent satellite out of the sky?

just thinking outloud...