Russia on Tuesday successfully test-fired a next generation intercontinental ballistic missile capable of piercing the planned US missile defence shield in central Europe.
MOSCOW: Russia on Tuesday successfully test-fired a next generation intercontinental ballistic missile capable of piercing the planned US missile defence shield in central Europe.
"The RS-24 with multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicle (MIRV) warheads was launched from a mobile missile launcher system at 2:20 pm Moscow time (15:50 IST) from the northern test-range in Plesetsk," a defence ministry spokesman announced.
"The targets have been reached and objectives achieved completely," Military spokesman Vadim Koval told Rossia state TV, adding that the ICBM's destination was a testing ground 10 time zones away in Kamchatka peninsula in the Far East.
Koval said the new ICBM met all international requirements in terms of strategic offensive arms control regimes and was capable of avoiding missile defence systems and, consequently, would enhance Russia's nuclear deterrent potential when deployed.
The government-run RIA Novosti agency noted that the latest test comes against the background of growing tensions between Moscow and the West due US plans to deploy elements of its global antiballistic missile defence system in Central Europe.
According to channel 1 TV, the new ICBM, with its manoeuvrable multiple warheads, similar to new generation Topol-M monobloc nuclear missiles, is likely to be inducted in 2010 and will finally replace the deadliest Soviet-era 'Satan' ICBMs.
Earlier, President Vladimir Putin and his likely successor Sergei Ivanov had clearly indicated that Moscow will take asymmetrical steps to annihilate US missile defence without getting involved in the arms race.
In a parallel development Russia on Tuesday also tested new short-range precision missile Iskander-M in the south of the country, as first deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov said "to counter the security threat posed by the emergence of short and medium range missiles along the perimeter of the Russian borders."
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