The US Air Force has carried out a missile launch in California.

The launch comes less than a week after North Korea conducted the latest of their recent missile launches and amid growing tensions over Pyongyang developing its own ICBMs.

According to Air Force officials the unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) was launched from its Vandenberg base on Wednesday as part of an "operational test".

An Air Force statement said that while it was "not a response to recent North Korean actions" the test "demonstrates that the United States' nuclear enterprise is safe, secure, effective and ready to be able to deter, detect and defend against attacks on the United States and its allies."

The US' ICBM was equipped with a test reentry vehicle, which according to officials showed it had travelled about 4,200 miles to the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands during Wednesday's test.

Flight data on North Korea's test on Friday suggested their missile had travelled about 620 miles before splashing down in the Sea of Japan.