Russia successfully fires new ICBM - Gayo Lues

Defense Ministry spokesman Vadim Koval said Russia’s Strategic Missile Forces test-fired the missile at 10.15 a.m. local time on Wednesday from a mobile launcher, but did not name the new missile.

“The training round landed in the western region of the Kamchatka peninsula, hitting its target,” Koval said.

“The new intercontinental ballistic missile is intended to strengthen the capabilities of Russia’s Strategic Missile Forces, including its capabilities for overcoming anti-missile defenses,” he added.

The move came only days after NATO activated the first stage of a missile defense shield in eastern Europe. Russia has repeatedly objected US and NATO-led deployment of the defense facilities near its borders, considering it as a threat to its national security.

The US and NATO agreed to establish a missile system at a summit in Lisbon in 2010, but negotiations between Russian and the alliance have floundered as NATO rejected to grant Russia legal guarantees that the system would not target Russia’s strategic nuclear deterrent.

Koval also revealed that the launch was the second conducted on the missile, as the first launch on September 27, 2011 failed after the missile crashed only about 10 kilometers from the site.

The French news agency quoted several sources as saying that the new missile could penetrate NATO’s new missile defense system. One military source also said that Russia’s new missile “uses a new type of fuel that helps reduce the time required to operate the propellants in the active stage of the rocket’s trajectory.”

SAB/GHN/MA