Russian will soon put into service the new missiles that were test-fired earlier this week, Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov pledged Thursday. "The tests were successful and that means that Russia's army will very shortly get the Iskander complex already equipped with a high-precision missile which can be used for surgical long-range strikes," Ivanov said as quoted by the Interfax news agency.
Russia's strategic missile forces announced Tuesday that they had test-fired a new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), the RS-24, capable of carrying multiple nuclear warheads in a move lauded as "reinforcing" Russia's ability "to overcome anti-missile defence systems."
The missile was launched in the northwest Arkhangelsk region and hit on target on the Kamchatka peninsula in Russia's far east some 6,000 kilometres (3,700 miles) away, the missile forces said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Thursday that the test of the RS-24 missile was "an answer to the fairly harsh and completely unfounded unilateral actions of our partners," in a clear reference to US plans to deploy an anti-missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic.
Source: Agence France-Presse
