The U.S. Air Force's test launch of an unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) was scheduled far in advance, and the timing was not in response to global events, U.S. Air Force Major Gen. Jason Armagost, the commander of the U.S. Eighth Air Force and Joint Global Strike Operations Center told Newsmax on Thursday.
Still, Wednesday's launch, coming about two weeks after Russia's nuclear training maneuvers two weeks ago, does equate to messages from both sides and helps focus on deterrence, Armagost said on Newsmax's "Wake Up America."
"It's a little of both," he said when asked if the test launches, along with NATO doing exercises, are disconnected.
"They're always scheduled a long time in advance," Armagost said, adding however, that the "timing of when they're executed does play out in the dynamics of geopolitics and what's happening in the world."
Russia's nuclear training maneuvers were held two weeks ago and involved Yars missile launchers that were deployed for exercises in the Volga region.
The Minuteman III, meanwhile, is capable of carrying three Mk 12A nuclear warheads and is a key component of the military's nuclear arsenal. It is scheduled to be phased out by 2029 when it will be replaced with the LGM-35A Sentinel ICBM.
Armagost agreed that part of Wednesday's readiness test also involves the United States' deterrent capability.
"All the way back to 500 B.C. with Sun Tzu, the mark of a good general is to win without fighting," he said. "Strategic deterrence is kind of an example of that where you can demonstrate strength, capability, and will to conduct operations and then deter an actual fight."
The United States' force posture is always under advisement for the dynamic environment that the world is in, he added.
"I would offer or point you at a couple of reports, actually, that are both bipartisan over the last couple of years. One is the Commission on the National Defense Strategy and one is the Strategic Posture Commission, both of which are available online," the general said, adding that both detail the "coalescing of threats [and] the clear direction of some of the threats that we're facing in the dynamic environment."
Meanwhile, foes of the United States will always seek advantages, said Armagost.
"We have been living off a peace dividend, if you will, for 35 years, and our forces are configured for a post-9/11 counterinsurgency kind of a fight," he said. "So we are very deliberately and carefully looking at readiness and how we conduct posture for strategic forces going forward."
He added that as the Eighth Air Force commander, he is "relentlessly focused" on readiness.
"We watch very closely, kind of, the convergence of what we call domains," Armagost said. "Whether it's cyberspace capabilities, nuclear capabilities — we look at how those interact and how we posture our forces … we watch very closely, kind of, the interactions of those strategic moves."
He noted that technology and threats from around the world have continued to change in his 33 years in the military.
"When I first started flying, I was an F-16 pilot, and it was a brand-new airplane," Armagost said. "That airplane is still flying today. So I've been in the service for 33 years, and it's the technology has changed. The capabilities of those systems have changed and adapted. But we are postured to make very big generational moves in the strategic posture of our bomber forces in particular now."
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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