CLEARFIELD, Utah, May 15 (UPI) -- An updated version of the U.S. Minuteman III missile motor was successfully test fired recently, it was announced Monday.
Initial data showed that the demonstrator first-stage motor met all design and performance expectations, Northrop Grumman and Alliant Tech Systems (ATK) said in a news release.
"The motor firing is a step forward in making this and other pending performance improvements for the Minuteman III available to the Air Force," stated John Clay, the general manager of Northrop's prime ICBM contract. "These improvements will enhance ... global strike capability."
The first-stage motor tested by ATK and Northrop underwent a static firing at Edwards Air Force Base in California. The motor, which was built at an ATK plant in Utah, met all test objectives for thrust, insulator-nozzle erosion and thrust vector control, the statement said.
The LGM-30 Minuteman III is arguably the most fearsome weapon in the United States' arsenal and the land component of the U.S nuclear triad. Based in underground silos in three states, the three-stage missiles have 6,000-mile range and carry a Mark 12 re-entry vehicle to deliver a nuclear weapon virtually anywhere in the world.
The missiles, however, have been in place since the 1960s. To extend their shelf life, the Air Force has a modernization program under way to upgrade the missiles' electronics, guidance systems and other segments, including the solid-fuel motors.
