Trump's nuclear tests: U.S. could launch first missile in early November – Newsweek

Navigational warnings indicate that the United States may test an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead, but without one, in early November. This could be the first such test since U.S. president Donald Trump ordered the resumption of nuclear testing, reports American magazine Newsweek.

Citing navigational warnings, Marco Langbroeck, a lecturer at the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, said the upcoming test of the Minuteman III rocket will take place between November 5 and 6.

According to these data, the missile is scheduled to be launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California and should reach the Reagan Test Site on Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands in the Central Pacific, as well as five designated debris areas (red on the map).

This has not yet been officially confirmed, Newsweek asked the US Air Force Global Strike Command for comment.

If this information is confirmed, the flight path will be similar to the previous test launch in May, when such a missile without a nuclear warhead flew westward for almost 6,760 kilometers after launch.

It will also be the second time since late September that the US nuclear forces have tested missiles: the US launched four Trident II D5 Life Extension ballistic missiles without a nuclear warhead from a submarine in the Atlantic Ocean off Florida.

According to the non-governmental organization Federation of American Scientists, the US Air Force has 400 Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles with a maximum range of more than 9,660 km. These weapons are equipped with 800 nuclear warheads; technically, these missiles can carry two or three nuclear warheads each.

"The Air Force conducts several Minuteman III flight tests each year. These are long-planned tests, and the Air Force consistently states that they are not scheduled in response to any external events," the researchers note.

Following the test of such a missile in May, the US Air Force's Global Strike Command stated that this "routine and periodic" event was one of more than 300 such tests conducted so far and "is not a response to current world events."

The U.S. Armed Forces regularly test their fleet of intercontinental ballistic missiles several times a year.

• On October 30, Trump instructed the Pentagon to immediately begin testing of American nuclear weapons. This happened after Russia tested the weapon, capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.
• Already on November 2, the US secretary of energy announced that during nuclear tests there will be no nuclear explosions.