“The Americans have not yet reached Sarmat.” Why does the Pentagon need a “Militiaman” from the 70s?

ICBM LGM-30G Minuteman III – translated from English “Militia” – has been in service with the US Army since 1970. Of these, 399 are active and 281 are in reserve. These silo missiles form the backbone of the US strategic deterrent. The claimed range of 13,000 kilometers was never confirmed, but the missile is still considered the fastest and most accurate missile in the world to this day. The main mining positions are located at three bases in the states of Wyoming, North Dakota, and Montana. From the Vandenberg base in California, where the Minuteman mines are also located, Moscow can be reached in a straight line of 9,700 kilometers.

According to General Ryder, this is now a “routine test” long planned and consistent with previous launches. He also ensured that the United States had informed the Russian government in advance of the upcoming launch, in accordance with its obligations under the Agreement on Measures for Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Assault Weapons (START and START-3). Recalling that such launches should demonstrate the readiness of the US nuclear forces and the US strategic deterrence arsenal.

Previous launches of Minuteman III ICBMs, like those available from the Vandenberg base on the night of August 16, were carried out free of charge. Earlier firings were rather erratic and peaked in 2020 when three Minutemen were fired. Then there was the failed launch of the Militia in May 2021, when the rocket’s flight was interrupted for an unspecified reason.

“Test launches of ballistic missiles are more of an indicator of nuclear power,” military expert Captain 1st Degree Vasily Dandykin told socialbites.ca. – Each of the nuclear powers produces regularly, but with great care, without presenting visible threats to potential enemies. The US is launching both Minutemen and Trident ICBMs. This is seen as a controlled element of combat training. After all, we also have Topol and Yars, who periodically hit the “match head” at the Kura training ground in Kamchatka.

The launch of the Minutemen does not cause much concern in Moscow, especially since they fly in the opposite direction and without a charge of war. However, they are monitored and checked, and at the same time new features are reviewed in terms of range and accuracy. Breakthrough technologies have yet to be noticed by the Minutemen.

Despite the fact that the American Minuteman III ICBM has been in service with the US Army for a long time, it is constantly being improved and developed. The modernization program, which began in 1996, meant the replacement of on-board computers, amplifiers, improvement of steering systems and electronic platform. Later, solid fuel was completely replaced at all stages of rockets, including boosters and related new hardware and software integration. The warheads of the missiles were also replaced with more advanced ones with a capacity of 300 kt.

“Deleting the Minuteman for the Americans, especially in the modernized version, does not make much sense,” military expert Major General Vladimir Popov told socialbites.ca. – Any ballistic missile is a continuation of previous generations, with enhanced features when updated. Our rocket makers work on the same principle; Sarmat platforms and hypersonic units can be called breakthrough technologies that the Americans have not yet reached, but are conducting similar developments. And at this stage, the US can still flaunt their Minutemen, which they choose to do during test launches. Of course, there will be new features in the new version.

The “advanced” age of the Minuteman III ICBM allows the “Militia” to remain in service with the United States, and the need for its modernization is due to the development of new ballistic missiles. As stated, “it can hit any target in Russia.” This, for example, is a new intercontinental ballistic missile called GBSD (Ground-based strategic deterrent – “Land-based strategic deterrent”). It should replace the Minutemen and, as expected, compete with the Russian RS-28 Sarmat complex.

The main characteristics of GBSD have not been disclosed, but they are already talking about superiority over Sarmat. From the Russian performance characteristics it is known that a missile with a range of 16-18 thousand kilometers is divided into ten (or more, including false) individually targeted hypersonic combat units that, when hit by a potential enemy, attack the target along one target. unpredictable trajectory, guaranteed to overcome system PRO.

It is possible that the American GBSD will correspond to the Sarmat, but it will appear later – according to the Pentagon’s plans, the first ICBMs of this project will enter combat duty in 2027 and will completely replace the Minuteman III. only until 2036.

Now, according to open data, Russia has 527 operationally deployed carriers of nuclear weapons – intercontinental ballistic missiles, heavy bombers, ballistic missiles with a total of 1,444 warheads on nuclear submarines. The US has 652 aircraft carriers and 1350 warheads. There are 779 deployed and non-deployed launchers in Russia and 800 in the USA.