Glory Trip 200

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 16, 2010
Release No. 06-0510

VANDENBERG CONDUCTS MINUTEMAN III FLIGHT TEST

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - A scheduled Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile test was launched here at 3:01 a.m. June 16 from Launch Facility-10.

The flight test was the first for the 576th Flight Test Squadron since its realignment under Air Force Global Strike Command.

The missile's single re-entry test vehicle traveled approximately 4,190 miles before hitting its pre-determined target near the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands.

"Team Vandenberg's coordination was phenomenal resulting in a seamless launch operation," said Col. Steven Winters, the 30th Space Wing vice commander and Launch Decision Authority.

MMIII missiles launched from Vandenberg carry sophisticated data collection equipment, according to Col. Carl DeKemper, the 576th FLTS commander. ICBM analysts, including the Department of Defense and the Department of Energy, will use the data collected from this mission for continuing force development evaluation.

"For more than 50 years, Vandenberg has been at the forefront of testing and improving ICBMs to ensure the readiness and reliability of our fleet," said Col. DeKemper. "Our team is dedicated to ensuring a safe, secure and effective combat-ready ICBM force."

It was shortly after 10:00 pm Wednesday night in Kwaj when we received notice of the launch of GT-200 via a 'crawl' message on AFN-TV. It takes about 20 or so minutes for the RV to complete its flight, ending in a spectacular light show as it streaks over Kwajalein Lagoon. I jumped onto my bike and raced up Ocean Road to North Point.

Sure enough, about five minutes after arriving in North Point, we saw what at first appeared to be lightning on the horizon, though it quickly became brighter. As the RV (reentry vehicle) became visible below the cloud layer it was a bright, glowing fireball streaking to the northwest. No sound, no sonic boom. (Long-exposure still pictures of other tests show the RVs as bright streaks in the sky.) And as quickly as it appeared, the show was over. Back on my bike and to my BQ to get some sleep.

A Glory Trip (or GT as it's abbreviated) begins by selecting an active missile from the ICBM missile fields in the northern United States. The missile is removed from its silo (another one takes its place) and returned to the base, where the RV containing the nuclear warhead is removed. The missile is then shipped to Vandenberg AFB near Lompoc, California; it then receives a new RV with special test instrumentation and a destruct package to terminate the missile's flight if something goes wrong. A typical launch and maintenance crew from the wing that 'donated' the missile for the test maintains the missile in operational status for the test. For some tests, a launch crew aboard an E-6 Mercury command and control aircraft acts as an airborne launch control center. In the unlikely event that the ground launched control centers are nuked out of existence or are unable to operate, the ALCC can take over if necessary.

At the appointed hour, the launch crew turns keys and the Minuteman III roars out of its silo in a column of flame and smoke. Over 4000 miles and nearly 25 minutes later, the residents on Kwaj get treated to the light show, although it is said that if the RV was a live nuke, it would be the last thing anyone would see before being obliterated in a nuclear explosion.

Because of the highly sensitive (and classified) nature of operational weapons testing, very little detail will emerge of the flight test, other than it was a success as described in the news release above.