http://www.reuters.com/newsArt...ws&storyID=7177345
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia successfully test-fired a mobile version of the intercontinental Topol-M ballistic missile on Friday in the last of four test-firings before its deployment next year, Interfax news agency reported.
Known as Russia's most sophisticated nuclear missile, it can be fitted with a single or multiple warheads and hit targets more than 6,200 miles away.
The firing was part of President Vladimir Putin's plan to turn Russia, whose Soviet-era missile arsenal needs serious renewal and financing, into a major global military and nuclear power.
Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov, who supervised Friday's firing from a mobile launch pad in Plesetsk in Arctic Russia, said its financing would start early next year.
"At a government meeting on Dec. 30 we are going to approve a new defense plan for 2005, including purchases of Topol-M mobile missiles," he was quoted as saying by Interfax news agency. "All the tests have been successful and our country is beginning to deploy them."
He did not say how many missiles the military planned to deploy.
Defense experts expect the Topol-M -- which is similar to the U.S. Minuteman III missile -- to form the core of Russia's missile weaponry by the end of the decade.
In November, Putin said Russia was working on new nuclear missile systems to protect itself against future security threats. Some analysts said his remarks were more likely to be an attempt to shore up Russia's international standing than an announcement of any developments in its arsenal.
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia successfully test-fired a mobile version of the intercontinental Topol-M ballistic missile on Friday in the last of four test-firings before its deployment next year, Interfax news agency reported.
Known as Russia's most sophisticated nuclear missile, it can be fitted with a single or multiple warheads and hit targets more than 6,200 miles away.
The firing was part of President Vladimir Putin's plan to turn Russia, whose Soviet-era missile arsenal needs serious renewal and financing, into a major global military and nuclear power.
Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov, who supervised Friday's firing from a mobile launch pad in Plesetsk in Arctic Russia, said its financing would start early next year.
"At a government meeting on Dec. 30 we are going to approve a new defense plan for 2005, including purchases of Topol-M mobile missiles," he was quoted as saying by Interfax news agency. "All the tests have been successful and our country is beginning to deploy them."
He did not say how many missiles the military planned to deploy.
Defense experts expect the Topol-M -- which is similar to the U.S. Minuteman III missile -- to form the core of Russia's missile weaponry by the end of the decade.
In November, Putin said Russia was working on new nuclear missile systems to protect itself against future security threats. Some analysts said his remarks were more likely to be an attempt to shore up Russia's international standing than an announcement of any developments in its arsenal.
