The Region - News from Jan. 29, 1987

The Air Force successfully launched an unarmed Minuteman III missile from Vandenberg Air Force Base to a target 4,200 miles away in the South Pacific, officials said. The 16-year-old missile’s three inert warheads were tracked to their targets in the U.S. Army Kwajalein Atoll, Senior Airman Mike Addison said. The 30-minute flight began about midnight at Vandenberg, 135 miles northwest of Los Angeles. The test was the 125th of the Minuteman III, a key element in the nation’s defense system, Addison said. On Jan. 20, a Minuteman I missile carrying a dummy warhead went out of control shortly after launch from Vandenberg and was destroyed over the Pacific.