US schedules first nuclear-capable ICBM test since Trump directive PHOTO

The United States is set to conduct its first test of a nuclear-capable, yet unarmed, intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) following President Donald Trump’s directive to renew testing, according to navigational warnings and a Newsweek map.

Citing the warnings, Marco Langbroek, a lecturer at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, said the upcoming Minuteman III ICBM test is scheduled between November 5-6, Caliber.Az reports via foreign media.

The missile will launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California and reach the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defence Test Site on Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands, with five designated debris zones along its path.

Esri, TomTom, Garmin, FAO, METI/NASA, NOAA, USGS

If executed, the flight trajectory would mirror a previous May test, when an unarmed Minuteman III, equipped with a single reentry vehicle capable of carrying a warhead, travelled roughly 4,200 miles (6759 km) west from California. This would also mark the second U.S. nuclear test since September, when a submarine launched four unarmed Trident II D5 Life Extension missiles in the Atlantic Ocean off Florida.

The Federation of American Scientists' Nuclear Information Project notes the U.S. Air Force operates 400 Minuteman III ICBMs, deployed across Colorado, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, and Wyoming, each with a range exceeding 6,000 miles (9656.064 km). While 800 nuclear warheads are assigned to the Minuteman III fleet, only one is deployed per missile, though technically capable of carrying two or three.

"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 Nuclear Information Project wrote in a report.

In a May press release regarding the previous test, the Air Force Global Strike Command emphasised that the “routine and periodic” launch is one of more than 300 similar exercises conducted to date and "is not a response to current world events."

An unarmed United States Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile launches during an operational test at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on May 21, 2025

An unarmed United States Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile launches during an operational test at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. (U.S. Space Force/Senior Airman Kadielle Shaw)

Energy Secretary Chris Wright clarified that these tests “will not include actual detonations like those previously carried out in the country. Instead, they will involve all other parts of a nuclear weapon to ensure they can trigger an atomic explosion.”

The modernised Minuteman III, initially deployed in 1970 but upgraded through a multibillion-dollar modernisation program completed in 2015, is described by Air Force personnel as “basically new missiles except for the shell,” according to the Federation of American Scientists.

The upcoming test underscores the U.S.’s commitment to maintaining a credible nuclear deterrent. As noted in May by the Air Force Global Strike Command: "This test launch is part of routine and periodic activities designed to demonstrate that the United States' nuclear deterrent remains safe, secure, reliable and effective in deterring 21st-century threats and reassuring our allies. With more than 300 similar tests conducted in the past, this test is part of the nation's ongoing commitment to maintaining a credible deterrent and is not a response to current world events."

Observers now await potential reactions from Russia and China, with Moscow recently testing a nuclear-capable torpedo and Beijing unveiling a new ICBM “capable of covering the entire globe.”

By Aghakazim Guliyev