Monday, April 14, 2014

Russia Test Fires Intercontinental Ballistic Missile

It's probably nothing.
From ITAR-TASS:

Russia's Space defence force tests launch Yars new ballistic missile 
 “The main task of the launch was to confirm the reliability of a batch of missiles manufactured at the Votkinsk plant, in Udmurtia,” the Defence Ministry’s strategic missile force spokesman says

Yars inter-continental ballistic missile (archive)
Yars inter-continental ballistic missile (archive) © ITAR-TASS/Vladimir Smirnov 
Moscow, April 14. /ITAR-TASS/. Russia’s strategic missile force and air and space defence force have test-launched an inter-continental ballistic missile RS-24 with a multiple warhead from the Plesetsk space site. The missile blasted off from a mobile launcher at 10:40 Moscow time, the Defence Ministry’s strategic missile force spokesman, Colonel Igor Yegorov has said.
“The main task of the launch was to confirm the reliability of a batch of missiles manufactured at the Votkinsk plant, in Udmurtia,” he said.

The experimental warheads arrived at the designated area at the Kura testing range, in Kamchatka Peninsula.
The objectives were achieved in full, Yegorov said.

Yars construction
RS-24 Yars was designed  by the academician of Moscow Institute of Thermal Technology Yuri Solomonov. This missile is based on scientific, technical and technological solutions implemented in a rocket complex Topol-M, which significantly reduced the time and cost to create it. Adopting RS-24 with a multiple warhead increased combat capabilities of Russia’s strategic missile force to overcome missile defense systems, thereby strengthening the nuclear deterrence potential of the Russian strategic nuclear forces. This missile replaced ICBM RS -12M Topol, RS-18 Stiletto.

"In future, the SS-24 mobile groups form the basis of the Strategic Missile Forces, which will be capable guarantee the security of the country and its allies until the middle of the XXI century," Yegorov said....