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Air Force Successfully Test Launches Missile From Central Coast

(U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Hanah Abercrombie)
The U.S. Air Forces successfully launched an unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballastic missle from Santa Barbara County Tuesday morning.

An unarmed intercontinental ballistic missile was successful test launched from the Central Coast Tuesday morning.

The Minuteman III missile lifted off from Vandenberg Air Force Base at 12:21 a.m., flying more than 4,000 miles to a test range in the South Pacific. 

It's the latest in an ongoing series of test launches from the base intended to gauge the preparedness of crews and equipment. 

Hundreds of active versions of the missile are currently deployed in underground silos in three states as part of the country's nuclear deterrence efforts.

Lance Orozco has been News Director of KCLU since 2001, providing award-winning coverage of some of the biggest news events in the region, including the Thomas and Woolsey brush fires, the deadly Montecito debris flow, the Borderline Bar and Grill attack, and Ronald Reagan's funeral. 
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