U.S carries out missile test

The United States has carried out a test of a Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile.

The U.S military said the missile test had been delayed to avoid escalating tensions with Beijing during China’s show of force near Taiwan earlier this month.

China deployed scores of planes and fired live missiles in the Taiwan Strait after U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi made a trip to the self-ruled island.

The test showed “the readiness of U.S. nuclear forces and provides confidence in the lethality and effectiveness of the nation’s nuclear deterrent,” a U.S. military statement said.

The U.S. military also canceled a test of its Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile in April.

That delay had aimed to lower nuclear tensions with Russia during the ongoing war in Ukraine.

The military said about 300 such tests have been carried out previously and that it was not the result of any specific global event.

The nuclear-capable Minuteman III, made by Boeing Co. (BA.N), is key to the U.S. military’s strategic arsenal.

The missile has a range of 6,000-plus miles (9,660-plus km) and can travel at a speed of approximately 15,000 miles per hour (24,000 kph).

Also Read: South Korea, U.S. launch missiles in response to North Korea 

Missiles are dispersed in hardened underground silos operated by launch crews.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said in February that his nation’s nuclear forces should be put on high alert, raising fears that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could lead to nuclear war.

U.S. officials have said there is no reason so far to change Washington’s nuclear alert levels.

Russia and the United States have by far the biggest arsenals of nuclear warheads after the Cold War.

Zainab Sa’id