The Pentagon is once more delaying a check of a nuclear-capable missile to keep away from a "misinterpretation or miscommunication" with Russia amid heightened tensions.

The U.S. navy on Friday canceled a beforehand scheduled check flight of the Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile, able to delivering a nuclear warhead to Russia. The postponement is the second time the Pentagon has delay the deliberate check, signaling the U.S. is continuous to keep away from nuclear escalation with Russia.

The Pentagon advised Newsweek in an e mail that the Air Pressure not too long ago canceled the check flight of the LGM-30G Minuteman III missile.

"The launch had been beforehand delayed attributable to an overabundance of warning to keep away from misinterpretation or miscommunication throughout the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine and was canceled for a similar motive," the Pentagon stated within the assertion. "Our subsequent deliberate check flight is later this yr. The Division is assured within the readiness of the strategic forces of the USA."

Missile Test Launch
The Pentagon has delayed the testing of the LGM-30G Minuteman III, an intercontinental ballistic missile able to reaching Russia with a nuclear warhead. Pictured, a file picture of an unarmed Minuteman II missile launches from Vandenberg Air Pressure Base, California. USAF/Getty Photos

Pentagon officers introduced on March 2 that it might delay the launch of the Minuteman III missile after Russian President Vladimir Putin stated he would place his nation's nuclear forces on excessive alert throughout its invasion of Ukraine.

On the time, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby contrasted what he described because the U.S.'s restraint to Putin's "harmful and irresponsible...pointless step."

"We didn't take this determination calmly, however as a substitute to exhibit that we're a accountable nuclear energy," Kirby stated in March.

The Minuteman III has been "the spine of the U.S. land-based nuclear strategic pressure since 1962," based on Missile Risk, a product of the Heart for Strategic and Worldwide Research (CSIS). The missile is the one land-based element of the U.S. nuclear triad and has close to 100% testing reliability.

There are presently an estimated 440 of the missiles within the U.S.'s arsenal, and two or extra assessments are performed every year, based on Missile Risk.

Air Pressure crews check 4 Minuteman III missiles every year from the Vandenberg Area Pressure Base in California to make sure its arsenal is functioning. Every of the assessments are publicized prematurely to keep away from the looks of being in response to a world occasion. The dummy warheads splash down close to Kwajalein Atoll within the Pacific Ocean.

The Air Pressure beforehand efficiently examined a Minuteman III in August 2021. The missile flew about 4,200 miles and detonated explosives earlier than touchdown within the ocean.

Beforehand, the Pentagon has stated the launch's postponement will "not have an effect on America's nuclear deterrence in any approach."