Minuteman III.

This is coolbert:

OH, thank GOD! The bird finally flew! Postponed flight of an American Minuteman III missile UNARMED finally taking place. Precautions intended to show good will and not to alarm the Chinese I guess successful.

"Air Force tests ICBM after delay over tensions with China"

From "The Hill" via msn ^ | 8/16/2022 | Ellen Mitchell tip from Freeper.

"The Air Force on Tuesday said it had successfully tested an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) nearly two weeks after postponing the launch amid increased tensions with China over Taiwan. The unarmed Minuteman III, which is capable of holding a nuclear payload, was launched at 12:49 a.m. Pacific Time from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., with its reentry vehicle landing roughly 4,200 miles away near the Marshall Islands"

I hardly think for a moment the Chinese on this occasion or the Russians in the previous instance were all that worried by a routine missile test announced [?] in advance. Routine as having been the case three-hundred times previously. Quality assurance tests of the missiles and launch crews.

Anyhow, test was completed and successful. Tensions were alleviated with prudence?

coolbert.