AF Conducts Successful Test of MX Missile
An MX missile carrying 10 dummy warheads--a full complement--was test-launched today on a successful 4,000-mile flight to the Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific.
The dummy warheads, or re-entry vehicles, are independently targetable, and today was the first time the MX, also known as the Peacekeeper, was tested carrying all 10, the Air Force said.
Capt. Tom Connell said liftoff came at 9 a.m.
It was the 12th test of the intercontinental ballistic missile in a series of 20 planned through 1987 and the third from a converted Minuteman missile silo.
By the end of 1986, the Air Force plans to have 10 MX missiles in silos at Vandenberg, 140 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles.
The Air Force has kept classified the accuracy of the new system, which is limited to 50 missiles by congressional action. But it was planned to be twice as accurate as existing Minuteman missiles, according to published reports.
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