Means of Delivery

The U.S. military has announced that it will conduct a test of a Minuteman III Intercontinental Ballistic Missile from Vandenberg Air Force Base on September 17. The missile will carry a “dummy” nuclear warhead from Vandenberg to the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. The test is scheduled less than three weeks after the official UN International Day against Nuclear Tests (August 29).

The U.S. moratorium on nuclear testing remains incomplete as long as we continue testing missiles designed to carry nuclear warheads. Minuteman III missiles are used solely to deliver nuclear warheads.

The preamble to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) calls upon the 189 countries that signed the NPT to facilitate “the elimination from national arsenals of nuclear weapons and the means of their delivery.”

The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation seeks the abolition of all nuclear weapons. We call on the United States and all countries around the world to recognize their full obligation to halt all nuclear testing – not only of the warheads, but also of nuclear-capable missiles.

The U.S. is demonstrating a stark double standard by condemning missile tests of other nations while continuing to conduct them on a regular basis itself. Continued testing of Minuteman III missiles by the United States sends a provocative message and encourages other countries to pursue their own nuclear weapon and missile delivery programs.