North Korean leader Kim Jong-un loves to indulge in blatant chest-thumping and issue frequent threats to the United States. North Korea's Hwasong missiles are no match to America's LGM-30 Minuteman missiles. The US has close to 450 Minuteman III missiles deployed at four bases in the north-central United States. The LGM-30G Minuteman-III program started in 1966 and included several improvements over the previous versions. Minuteman 3 uses solid propellants and hence can be launched in a matter of minutes. Previous long-range missiles used liquid fuels that could only be loaded just prior to firing. The U.S. Air Force in August this year conducted an operational test of its LGM-30 Minuteman III Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Although the exact range of Minuteman is classified, it is estimated that it can hit targets even 13,000 kms away.