US missile test highlights readiness amid election day
On the day of the presidential elections, the United States tested the Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile. The launch command was issued from the "doomsday plane" using the ALCS system, designed for use if the White House and ground command centres were destroyed.
The test launch of the Minuteman ballistic missile occurred in the evening, after 7 AM Greenwich Mean Time, following the closing of the polling stations. An unarmed missile was launched from the Vandenberg base in California.
As planned, the LGM-30G Minuteman III missile successfully hit a target several thousand miles away at the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site on Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands Archipelago.
The American command emphasises that this is not a response to current events. According to the provided statement, the test had been planned for a long time, and the Minuteman test launch was one of over 300 conducted to date.
It is worth noting, however, that the test was conducted according to a specific scenario. The missile was launched using an airborne command centre equipped with the ALCS system, located aboard the "doomsday plane." This is the E-6B Mercury, which belongs to the 625th Strategic Operations Squadron.
ALCS – a safeguard in case of an attack on the USA
ALCS (Airborne Launch Control System) is a communication channel developed during the Cold War in the 1960s. It allows for the remote launch of intercontinental ballistic missiles.
It serves as a safeguard in case the White House and other ground decision-making centres were destroyed, deprived of communication, or if the US authorities, for security reasons, were not on the ground but in one of the airborne command centres, known as doomsday planes.
Until the end of the Cold War, at least one aeroplane with ALCS was constantly in the air. However, since the 1990s, airborne standby was discontinued—the ALCS-equipped aircraft currently stands by on the ground, with a crew ready for immediate takeoff.
