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Monday, December 6, 2010

Russia Tests Nuclear-Capable ICBM from GSN Daily News

http://gsn.nti.org/gsn/nw_20101206_4921.php
Russia's military yesterday carried out a successful test launch of a nuclear-capable ICBM, RIA Novosti reported (see GSN, Oct. 28).
Launched from the Astrakhan region of Russia, the RS-12M Topol missile's dummy warhead struck "a conditional target accurately at the landfill of Sary-Shagan in Kazakhstan," said a spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry.
The Kremlin first placed the Topol missile into operation 25 years ago. Its maximum range is 6,125 miles, according to the news agency.
The RS-12M is roughly comparable to the U.S. Minuteman ICBM in stature and configuration.
The Russian strategic missile forces are set to receive RS-24 missiles that are thought to be capable of carrying up to six warheads, SMF commander Lt. Gen. Sergei Karakayev said last week. The RS-24 entered into service last year.
In August, the strategic missile forces announced the RS-24 and the one-warhead Topol-M missiles would form the backbone of Russia's land-based nuclear arsenal -- representing at least four-fifths of the organization's total stockpile within six years. Since June, the nuclear force has been operating a minimum of 18 mobile and 50 facility-based Topol-M systems.
The strategic missile forces have 10 ICBM test-launches planned for 2011, double the number conducted this year, Karakayev said (RIA Novosti, Dec. 5).
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