Russia last week conducted tests of land- and sea-based missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, Nov. 5).
A RS-24 ICBM launched Wednesday flew 4,000 miles from the Plesetsk cosmodrome in northern Russia to the Kamchatka Peninsula. This was the third test-launch of the weapon in the past two years.
"The targets that were set were reached. The tasks were fully carried out," said Col. Gen. Nikolai Solovtsov, head of Russia's strategic missile forces. "The deployment of the RS-24 missiles, which have a detachable warhead, strengthens the military options of the Russian missile forces in overcoming missile defense systems."
Moscow has objected loudly and repeatedly to U.S. plans to deploy missile defense systems in Poland and the Czech Republic. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev recently threatened to deploy short-range missiles near Poland if Washington moves ahead with its program. U.S. officials say the system is being developed with nations such as Iran in mind and poses no threat to Russia (Agence France-Presse I/Yahoo!News, Nov. 26).
Deployment of the RS-24 is set to begin next year, AFP reported.
"It is expected the new missile complex including the RS-24 intercontinental ballistic missile will be deployed with Russian forces from 2009," Solovtsov said Friday. "It is planned that the main regiment equipped with this missile ... and one squadron will be put on combat duty in the Teikovo missile unit in December 2009" (Agence France-Presse II/Spacewar.com, Nov. 28).
On Friday, the Russian submarine Dmitry Donskoy launched a Bulava missile from the White Sea. The missile warhead flew roughly 4,000 miles.
"The warhead successfully reached the Kura test site on Kamchatka," according to a statement from Navy spokesman Igor Dygalo.
The Bulava had failed in four of its previous six test-launches, Interfax reported. The weapon is capable of flying 5,000 miles and of carrying 10 independently targeted nuclear warheads, AFP reported (Agence France-Presse III/Spacewar.com, Nov. 28).
Russia intends to modify missiles to safeguard them from U.S. missile shield technology that might be deployed in space, the Associated Press reported today. Improved missiles would be able to fly "outside the range" of such threats, Solovtsov said, without providing details.
He claimed today that Washington might be looking at a first-strike situation in which the majority of Russian missiles would be eliminated. Missile shield technology could then pick off the remaining weapons, according to this scenario, Solovtsov said.
"The Americans will never be able to implement this scenario, because Russian strategic nuclear forces, including the strategic missile forces, will be capable of delivering a strike of retribution under any course of developments," he said, according to Interfax (Vladimir Isachenkov, Associated Press/Washington Post, Dec. 1).