Unarmed Test Missile Launched From Vandenberg Air Force Base

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE (AP) — The Air Force says an unarmed Minuteman 3 missile was launched from California in a test of the intercontinental ballistic missile system.

The missile blasted off at 3:03 a.m. Wednesday from Vandenberg Air Force Base on the coast northwest of Los Angeles.

The Air Force says the missile carried a test re-entry vehicle that hit a target area 4,200 miles away near the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean.

Col. J. Christopher Moss, 30th Space Wing commander, said in a statement that such tests are a validation of the nation's defensive capabilities.

The test involved personnel from Vandenberg's 576th Flight Test Squadron and 30th Space Wing.

(Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)