Russia test-fires ICBM

Originally published on March 5, 2014

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Russia says it successfully test-fired an ICBM on Monday (March 4th) and that the missile hit its target.

Reuters reports that Russia test-fired a Topol RS-12M intercontinental ballistic missile from on Tuesday night from a site 450 kilometers east of the Ukrainian border.

Carrying a dummy warhead, the Russian ICBM reportedly hit its target site in neighboring Kazakhstan.

A Topol missile is fired from a heavy-duty truck that first plants itself on hydraulic jacks. The front cone then falls away before the launcher is erected in preparation for firing.

Developed during the waning years of the cold war, the Topol RS-12M has a range of 10,500 kilometers.

The RS-12M missile is a three-stage rocket and is capable of delivering a single warhead.

Russia once had over 300 Topol mobile missile launchers, but due to their huge operating costs, Russia has reduced its mobile Topol fleet to fewer than 200 while maintaining hundreds of silo-based ICBMs.

The United States says it was notified in advance of Russia's March 4th test-fire, a condition required by bilateral arms treaties.

Reuters reports that the site from which the missile was fired was Kapustin Yar, a launch station located near the Volga River, and only some 450 kilometers east of the Ukrainian border.

The ICBM hit a target at the Sary Shagan range in Kazakhstan, a Russian ally and also the nation Russia's space program launches astronauts from.

Treaties between the United States and Russia signed in 2010 restricted the numbers of ICBMs each nation may keep in their nuclear arsenals.

Moscow, however, says it plans to work with the U.S. on fresh cuts in the near future as Russia moves to reduce, but modernize its aging nuclear weapons arsenal.

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