The U.S. Air Force demonstrated the nation's nuclear readiness by launching an unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California early Wednesday morning.

The test will launch an unarmed Minuteman III missile, of which 400 are in service at bases in Wyoming, Montana and North Dakota, according to the Air Force. Weighing nearly 40 tons and propelled by three solid-fuel rocket motors, the missile travels at speeds reaching 15,000 miles per hour.

The military successfully launched an unarmed intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in Southern California to test and show off US nuclear capabilities. The Minuteman III missile lit up the late night sky after it was launched at the Vandenberg Space Force Base — about 150 miles from Los Angeles — around 1 a.