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- Mar 3, 2021
US Air Force Global Strike Command launched an unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile equipped with a test reentry vehicle at 11:01 P.M. Pacific Time Feb. 9 from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California.
Well you can watch it on video! Enjoy:That would have been something to see, in person!
Let's hope it never happens for real.Well you can watch it on video! Enjoy:
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Let’s hope. Once the first one flies, it will be next to impossible to stop the next ones.Let's hope it never happens for real.
Russian test coming soon (as per NOTAMs). Looks like Plesetsk to Kura.Let’s hope. Once the first one flies, it will be next to impossible to stop the next ones.
Is this their new hypersonic one?Russian test coming soon (as per NOTAMs). Looks like Plesetsk to Kura.
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Russian test coming soon (as per NOTAMs). Looks like Plesetsk to Kura.
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Between the US test, Putin ordering Novaya Zemlya to be ready to start tests and this.....it’s going to be interesting times.Russian test coming soon (as per NOTAMs). Looks like Plesetsk to Kura.
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Nope. The NOTAMs in the Kara Sea probably correspond to re-entry of successive rocket stages. We got two distinct areas, so it's a three-stage missile. Which means an ICBM, most likely SS-X-30.Is this their new hypersonic one?
I'm not worried about ICBM tests per se. They happen from time to time. In fact, they have been happening ever since ICBMs were invented. Nuclear weapons - along with the associated procedures and rituals - did not go away after the Cold War ended; we just stopped caring.Between the US test, Putin ordering Novaya Zemlya to be ready to start tests and this.....it’s going to be interesting times.
The timing is what interests me. I understand that it’s just normal goings on,for the most part. Computer modeling has pretty much eliminated the need for actual nuclear tests. Putin does find himself being backed into a corner and the war isn’t going well. Probably hoping that posturing, rhetoric and telling NATO not to continue to poke the bear will get them to back down and let him annex Ukraine.I'm not worried about ICBM tests per se. They happen from time to time. In fact, they have been happening ever since ICBMs were invented. Nuclear weapons - along with the associated procedures and rituals - did not go away after the Cold War ended; we just stopped caring.
Of course this particular test is clearly timed to coincide with the anniversary of the war and with Putin's upcoming big speech. He's trying to tell us something all right. That, in itself, is notable.
As for a potential nuke test in Nova Zemlya - if it happens, I would regard it as more posturing. Russia doesn't actually need to test its nukes. The test range has been maintained in a state of quasi-readiness for some time now (think years) but I haven't heard of any specific recent developments that would signal an impending test.
