Russia test-launches new ICBM
By JIM HEINTZ, Associated Press Writer/ /
/15 minutes ago/
Russia on Tuesday test-launched a new intercontinental ballistic missile
capable of carrying multiple independent warheads, and a top government
official said it could penetrate any defense system, a news agency reported.
The new missile would modernize Russia's stockpile at a time of rising
tensions with the West.
The ICBM was fired from a mobile launcher at the Plesetsk launch site in
northwestern Russia, and its test warhead landed on target about 3,400
miles away on the Far Eastern Kamchatka Peninsula, a statement from the
Russian Strategic Missile Forces said.
President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly said Russia would continue to
improve its nuclear weapons systems and respond to U.S. plans to deploy
a missile defense system in Europe.
First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov said the ICBM, as well as a
tactical cruise missile that also was tested Tuesday, can penetrate any
missile defense system, Russian news agencies reported.
"As of today, Russia has new (missiles) that are capable of overcoming
any existing or future missile defense systems," ITAR-Tass quoted Ivanov
as saying. "So in terms of defense and security, Russian can look calmly
to the country's future."
Ivanov is a former defense minister seen as a potential candidate to
succeed Putin in elections next year.
The ICBM, called the RS-24, is seen as eventually replacing the aging
RS-18s and RS-20s that are the backbone of Russia's missile forces, the
statement said. Those missiles are known in the West as the SS-19
Stiletto and the SS-18 Satan.
The statement said the RS-24 conforms with terms laid down in the
START-I treaty and the 2002 Moscow Treaty, which calls for reductions in
each country's nuclear arsenal to 1,700-2,000 warheads.
The RS-24 "strengthens the capability of the attack groups of the
Strategic Missile Forces by surmounting anti-missile defense systems, at
the same time strengthening the potential for nuclear deterrence," the
statement said.
The statement did not specify how many warheads the missile can carry.
Ivanov said the missile was a new version of the Topol-M, first known as
the SS-27 in the West, but one that that can carry multiple independent
warheads, ITAR-Tass reported.
The first Topol-Ms were commissioned in 1997, but deployment has
proceeded slower than planned because of a shortage of funds, and aging
Soviet-built ballistic missiles remain the backbone of Russia's nuclear
forces. Existing Topol-M missiles are capable of hitting targets more
than 6,000 miles away.
Alexander Golts, a respected military analyst with the Yezhenedelny
Zhurnal online publication, expressed surprise at the announcement. "It
seems to be a brand new missile. It's either a decoy or something that
has been developed in complete secrecy," he told The Associated Press.
The new missile would probably be more capable of penetrating missile
defense systems than previous models, according to Alexander Pikayev, a
senior analyst at the Moscow-based Institute for World Economy and
International Relations.
He said its development was probably "inevitable" after the U.S.
withdrew from the Soviet-era Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty in 2002 in
order to deploy a national missile defense shield.
Russia adamantly opposes U.S. efforts to deploy elements of a
missile-defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic. The United
States says the system is aimed at blocking possible attacks by
countries such as North Korea and Iran, but Russia says the system would
destroy the strategic balance of forces in Europe.
Russia's military chief of staff has suggested repeatedly that Russia
would regard elements of the system as potential targets.
Asked about the controversy Tuesday at a news conference with Portuguese
Prime Minister Jose Socrates, Putin said, "We consider it harmful and
dangerous to turn Europe into a powder keg."
On Monday, Russia called for an emergency conference next month on a key
Soviet-era arms control treaty that has been a source of increasing
friction between Moscow and NATO.
The call for a conference on the Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty
follows last month's statement from Putin declaring a moratorium on
observing Russia's obligations under the treaty.
The treaty, which limits the number of aircraft, tanks and other
non-nuclear heavy weapons around Europe, was first signed in 1990 and
then amended in 1999 to reflect changes since the Soviet breakup. Russia
has ratified the amended version, but the United States and other NATO
members have refused to do so until Moscow withdraws troops from the
former Soviet republics of Moldova and Georgia
Serbian News Network - SNN
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