(Michael Peterson | U.S. Air Force via AP) This image taken with a slow shutter speed and provided by the U.S. Air Force shows an unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile test launch early Tuesday, Oct. 2, 2019, at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. The Air Force on Tuesday awarded a $13.3 billion contract for engineering and development work on a replacement for the Minuteman 3 missile, which has operated continuously for half a century as a key part of the nuclear force.