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Russia Announces Successful Topol Ballistic Missile Test
Moscow (RIA Novosti) Oct 22, 2007 Russia has successfully test-fired an RS-12 Topol intercontinental ballistic missile from the Plesetsk space center, a spokesman for the Strategic Missile Forces announced on Thursday. The RS-12 (NATO reporting name SS-25 Sickle) has been in service since 1988. It is a road-mobile single-warhead ICBM, similar in size and shape to the U.S. Minuteman ICBM. "A mock warhead hit a designated target at testing grounds on the Kamchatka Peninsula [in Russia's Far East]," the spokesman said. He said the launch from the space center in north Russia had been conducted to assess the possibility of extending the service life of Topol missiles whose technical specifications stipulate a 10-year service term. "With this test launch the service life of Topol systems has been extended to 21 years," the official said. The missile will be progressively retired over the next decade. It is being replaced by a mobile version of the Topol-M (SS-27) missile, which can carry up to six nuclear warheads.
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Russian Military Chief Says No Need To Give Up INF Treaty
Solnechnogorsk, Russia (RIA Novosti) Oct 18, 2007Relinquishing the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty could spur the use of weapons of mass destruction, Russia's top military official said on Wednesday. President Vladimir Putin last week said Russia could pull out of the U.S.-Russian arms reductions treaty, unless it was expanded to impose restrictions on other countries as well. "Breaking this treaty could lead to irreversible consequences, when a large number of countries will equip missiles with high-precision warheads and more exotic types of WMD," said Army General Yury Baluyevsky, chief of Russia's General Staff. |
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