Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register The United States military said on Tuesday it had test-fired a Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile, delayed to avoid escalating tensions with Beijing during China’s show of force near Taiwan earlier this month. China has deployed dozens of drones and fired live missiles into the Taiwan Strait following US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s trip to the self-ruled island. China considers Taiwan part of its territory and has never renounced the use of force to bring it under its control. The test demonstrated “the readiness of US nuclear forces and provides confidence in the lethality and effectiveness of the nation’s nuclear deterrent,” the US military said in a statement. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register The military said about 300 such tests had been conducted in the past and were not the result of any particular world event. In April, the US military canceled a test of the Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile. That delay was aimed at reducing nuclear tensions with Russia during the ongoing war in Ukraine. The nuclear-capable Minuteman III, built by Boeing Co. (BA.N), is key to the US military’s strategic arsenal. The missile has a range of 6,000-plus miles (9,660-plus km) and can travel at a speed of about 15,000 miles per hour (24,000 km/h). The missiles are dispersed in hardened underground silos operated by launch crews. Russian President Vladimir Putin said in February that his country’s nuclear forces should be put on high alert, raising fears that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could lead to nuclear war. But US officials said they saw no reason so far to change Washington’s nuclear alert levels. Russia and the United States have by far the largest arsenals of nuclear warheads since the Cold War that divided the world for much of the 20th century, pitting the West against the Soviet Union and its allies. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Reporting by Idrees Ali Editing by Peter Graff Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. Idrees Ali Thomson Reuters National Security Correspondent focusing on the Pentagon in Washington Reports on US military activity and operations around the world and their impact. It has been reported from over 22 countries including Iraq, Afghanistan and much of the Middle East, Asia and Europe. From Karachi, Pakistan.
