MOSCOW (AFP)--Russia will from December 2009 deploy its new RS-24 intercontinental missile, designed to counter defense systems like the controversial U.S. missile shield, the military said Friday.
The announcement of the deployment of the RS-24, a multiple-warhead, nuclear-capable missile, came amid continued disagreement between Moscow and Washington over U.S. missile defense plans.
"It is expected the new missile complex including the RS-24 intercontinental ballistic missile will be deployed with Russian forces from 2009," Nikolai Solovtsov, the commander of Russia's missile forces, told Russian news agencies.
"It is planned that the main regiment equipped with this missile...and one squadron will be put on combat duty in the Teikovo missile unit in December 2009," he said, referring to a base northeast of Moscow.
The military Wednesday successfully test-fired the RS-24 for the third time, launching it from northern Russia and hitting targets 6,000 kilometers away on the Kamchatka Peninsula that juts into the Pacific Ocean.
The military has said the RS-24 is designed to overcome air-defense systems such as the controversial U.S. missile shield planned for deployment in eastern Europe.
President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin have urged Barack Obama to drop the plans when he takes over the White House in January but the U.S. president-elect has yet to reveal his intentions.
The RS-24 is a new missile that builds on the technologies of Russia's Topol-M missile but has the novelty of multiple independently targetable warheads, the Russian military says.
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 28, 2008 04:54 ET (09:54 GMT)

Publié le 28 novembre 2008 Copyright © 2008 Dowjones